At Udine Castle a broad overview of Mimmo Jodice, among the leading exponents of contemporary Italian photography

Until November 4, 2025, the Parliament Hall inside Udine Castle is hosting Mimmo Jodice. The Enigma of Light, an exhibition intended to offer the public a broad overview of the work of one of the leading exponents of contemporary Italian photography. The exhibition, curated by the Civic Museums of Udine with Silvia Bianco, Roberto Koch and Alessandra Mauro, in collaboration with Mimmo, Angela and Barbara Iodice, and Studio Jodice, is proposed as a cultural occasion included in a broader project of the Municipality aimed at promoting the city through high-profile artistic events.

The exhibition, which is proposed as an opportunity to explore Mimmo Jodice ’s photography as an artistic tool that transcends the limits of the visible, is articulated in an unprecedented itinerary that spans more than 50 years of the Neapolitan photographer’s activity, with more than 140 works created by the photographer between 1964 and 2015, coming directly from the Studio Jodice collections and the Vatican Museums. The selected images recount the evolution of Jodice’s language, ranging from the conceptual experiments of the 1960s to the most recent images, exploring the common thread of an entire career, namely the balance between the real image and its abstraction.

The common thread of the exhibition is the relationship between reality and vision, between presence and absence: a constant investigation conducted through the refined use of black and white, which transforms photography into an instrument of existential reflection. Through the photographs on display, there will be an opportunity to trace the main themes of his production, including attention to artistic language, social denunciation and the traditions of Naples in the 1970s, the silence of human landscapes, the relationship with the past, and visions of nature and the city that transcend geographical boundaries in a profound artistic vision.

The exhibition itinerary

The first section of the exhibition will be devoted to formal and technical research, with a focus on the camera obscura, through which Jodice has constantly sought to attribute new accents to the works. Working on negatives, he has sought throughout his career a profound balance between black and white, dismembering and recomposing his images to achieve abstract visions that challenge visual perception. Indeed, the core of his work is this constant experimentation, combining reality with its abstraction.

The exhibition then moves on to social and historical themes, with a section devoted to Chi è devoto, a project documenting popular traditions in Naples in the 1970s. The chosen images capture the city in a suspended and silent atmosphere, where absence becomes the main subject of shots bordering on the metaphysical. In the series Views of Naples and other series of the 1980s this reflection continues: Jodice fixes the anxieties and doubts related to the city, transformed into a timeless enigma, devoid of chronological and spatial references.

In the final part of the exhibition, the focus shifts to the Mediterranean and nature. The projects Il Polittico Villa dei Papiri and I volti della Memoria offer a reflection on time and cultural heritage, while the Eden project raises questions about our relationship with our surroundings, transforming common objects into symbols of consumerism and alienation.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Mimmo Jodice Studio S.r.l., the University of Udine, CRAF - Centro di Ricerca e Archiviazione della Fotografia, and Roberto Koch Editore - Contrasto, with the support of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the Friuli Foundation, and numerous local institutions and sponsors. Important support was also offered by the Bank of Udine. Also adding institutional value were the attributed sponsorships from the Pordenone-Udine Chamber of Commerce and from Confindustria Udine, and sponsorship from the investee company SSM Sistema Sosta e Mobilità S.p.A. and Arriva Udine.

“Mimmo Jodice’s photography is art and avant-garde, a rare artistic experience that in the simplicity of a chiaroscuro expresses the complexity of the world that surrounds us, that has preceded us and that evolves to the human presence,” comments Culture Councillor Federico Pirone. “His intimate and reflective work is a point of reference for generations of photographers and art enthusiasts, but also an opportunity, which we are pleased to be able to offer by hosting it, to generate new reflections in visitors and to strengthen Udine’s role as a cultural laboratory with a European flavor. We have tried to intercept a modern artistic sentiment, creating a cultural proposal that we believe is of value to our city.”

At Udine Castle a broad overview of Mimmo Jodice, among the leading exponents of contemporary Italian photography

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