Mar. 26 – Apr. 12, 2011
Naples, Italy
Giuseppe Macedonio’s (1906-1986) solo exhibition is about to start in Naples, in the beautiful setting of Castel Dell’Ovo.
For the very first time a large number of the artist’s works – some unpublished – have been gathered to highlight his contribution to Neapolitan ceramic art throughout the 20th century.
The focus is on his architectural pottery: furniture and decorative ceramic sculptures, large vases and many large works made for public areas and monuments.
Macedonio learnt to make pottery as a young kid, serving his apprenticeship with renowned ceramicists in Naples and Vietri sul Mare, where he worked at the ICS, the company founded by Max Melamerson. In Vietri the artist learnt most of the pottery making techniques and met the German ceramic artists who had settled in the city and were to revive its fame.
In 1938 he founded his own workshop “I due fornaciari” in Naples, together with Romolo Vetere, a fellow artists and sculptor. A most important experience for Macedonio, who focused his talents on pottery sculptures and large panels.
During the 50’s he won considerable acclaim, both in Italy and abroad, and he was commissioned to produce many public art projects in Naples: the Fountain of the Esedra at the Mostra d’Oltremare (1950-54), the architectural panels and the monumental majolica decorations that accent many buildings in the most relevant streets of the city.
His pottery absorbed the key art trends of his time and, in the Sixties and Seventies, Macedonio works became very experimentalist, both in terms of glazes and iconographical subjects. Among his achievements the interior decoration of the Teatro Italia in Gallipoli and of the Chiesa di Casalvelino Marina a Salerno.
His works are held in the collections of the The International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza and the Brooklyn Museum in New York .
Giuseppe Macedonio, scultore maiolicaro
Sala delle Prigioni – Castel dell’Ovo
Via Eldorado 3, Napoli
Phone: +39 081 7954593