Among the authoritative female voices that make up the current system ofcontemporary art Italian, one of the most interesting is undoubtedly that of Wise Naples, artist class ’91 who was able to describe – and perhaps even herald us before others – the sense of belonging to a “liquid” and freely interdisciplinary era.
The Argentinian artist had used the potential of Instagram as a performance stage Amalia Ulman with “Excellences and Perfections”, which since 2014, has concocted a deceptive instagram-comedy deluding everyone that she is a naive and fragile provincial girl who has just landed in LA and in the grip of the sudden choice to become a sexy sugar girl, thus surrounding herself of unbridled luxury, high fashion, cosmetic surgery and wealthy boyfriends; all cleverly studied at the table to give life to the completion of her work of art.
Sagg Napoli, on the contrary, has used and continues to use social media to always tell us the truth, naked and raw. The undisputed protagonist is her south, in perennial balance between complexity, ruthlessness and folklore, a social mechanism that essentially translates through her body; strident gestures, costumes and outfits which, mixed with a post-Internet aesthetic culture, debunk the innumerable clichés (especially those related to femininity) that inhabit the streets of his city, precisely Naples. A lucid description of a hometown that mixes autobiographical ties with emotional carnality and that celebrates to such an extent that it is even included in the acronym of his name: Sofia Anna Ginevra Giannì aka Wise Naples. The protagonist of this frame is a woman who, unlike what one might expect, does not shy away from traditions and her places but, at the same time, does not dwell only on them, she makes us participants in a fight against stereotypes by combining autobiographical immersion with contemporary language of the new generations.
Music, yoga and recently the archery are other ways of expressing the many facets of his personality and his art, loud and at the same time intimist which claims the dignity of a place with a sense of pride, even writing on the wall of a gallery (la Fonti in Naples) the graffiti “Use my city as a theme park I cancel you. My culture as a costume I cancel you”.
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Many themes coexist in his work: corporality, sex, politics, social culture, storytelling – to name a few of them – which come to us in the form of performances, photos, installations, videos, digital art, memes and much more; …I’d like to ask you who SAGG Napoli is.
SAGG NAPLES it’s me.
He lived for a time in London, temporarily freeing himself from his hometown, Naples; today she has decided to go back, she lives and works there, and often in his work there are multiple references, titles or manipulations that revolve around this territoriality. What does this city represent for you and how much does it affect your work?
I lived in London for 11 years, most of my adult life, returning to live in Naples was a choice dictated by many things that in part did not depend on me. It must be said that Naples and the Mediterranean and their socio-political dynamics have certainly always been the basis of my artistic research. Living in London has allowed me to have a level of detachment and see things that otherwise would have just been my norm. Naples for me represents a bridge between the north and the south of the world. Someone told me one day that he didn’t understand if Naples was our future or our past, I sort of find myself in this question.
What do you think of contemporary feminist struggles? Do you feel well represented by your generation?
I think the feminist struggles of my generation are moving in different directions and means, whether they are on the street or in daily actions but also online, all equally important, as evidenced by what is happening in Iran. I am definitely represented and I am directly in support of some of these.
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The amazons were warrior women, who mutilated their right breasts to be more agile with bows and arrows; I immediately thought of them when I learned that she, with a fighting spirit, chose to learn the discipline of archery to escape a period of stalemate, even turning this passion into work – she was an effective example l installation designed for the Warsaw Import Export gallery at Artissima – can you explain to us what this practice represents for you?
Let’s say that I often think about the question of femininity and amazons, let me explain myself better: I have often found that in sport everything related to femininity is considered an obstacle, long hair, make-up, long nails, even a part of the body such as the breast. I don’t find myself there, I shoot with long nails, I wear jewels and sometimes I even shoot with my hair down, I find the image of giving up a part of femininity annoying. The things I listed are fundamental to give me security. In archery the breast shield is used by both men and women.
What does this discipline represent for me? They say archery is the most modern of the ancient sports. For me it was definitely a way to learn constancy and discipline and to quantify sporting growth but above all emotional and personal.
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The new generations love to reflect themselves in the theory of fluidity; a concept also well present in many contemporary artistic practices; above his latest installation, in fact, dominated the writing Progress Isn’t A Straight Line (Progress is not a straight line); in this necessary instability, are you able to outline an evolution of your artistic practice in the near future?
I don’t know: waking up every morning I simply try to be a better version of the previous day, both by acquiring a new skill, in dedication to sport, in learning to manage emotions, and in my relationship with others. There are days when I think I succeed in this exercise, other days less, this does not preclude progress. I think my art practice follows accordingly.
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