Shadows of Naples

Naples, 1988. Ernest Pignon-Ernest, after immersing himself in the history of the city and in its walls bearing a living memory, descends into the alleyways, his life-size drawings under his arm. He pastes them up at night in the city streets. As the days go by, he photographs the encounter between his images and their environment before they disappear under the effects of time, rain, or the passage of inhabitants.

For twenty-seven years,, until 2015, he returned five times to continue this dialogue with Naples, its myths, and its history. The Inguimbertine in Carpentras now brings together more than two hundred works, including some previously unseen works, combining black chalk drawings, screen prints and photographs of collages that have since disappeared.

A major figure in urban art, Ernest Pignon-Ernest has made the street his space of expression and of memory since the 1960s. In Naples, the artist evokes Caravaggio, Virgil, the rites associated with death, the Female figures and Mediterranean myths permeate the city.

The exhibition "Shadows of Naples" invites visitors to rediscover one of the most significant body of work in his oeuvre and the unique dialogue he established with the Neapolitan city. The works also resonate with the Italian collections of the Inguimbertine Library, assembled in the 18th century by Malachie d'Inguimbert.

THE INGUIMBERTINE LIBRARY
From May 23 to December 31, 2026
180 pl. Aristide Briand, 84200 Carpentras