The Church of St. John the Baptist, in the Neapolitan neighborhood of San Giovanni a Teduccio (Naples), is preparing to host Corpo Aureo, a new exhibition project by Iranian artist Maziar Mokhtari. The exhibition, scheduled from September 3 to 30, 2025, is produced by the Officine Artistiche Vesuviane association and is part of the calendar of Visioni Contemporanee, the contemporary art programming promoted and funded by the City of Naples for the current year. It is curated by Chiara Pirozzi. Admission will be free for the duration of the exhibition.
Corpo Aureo is presented as a site-specific intervention designed specifically for the rooms of the Church of San Giovanni Battista, a historic building inserted in the urban fabric of the eastern suburbs of Naples. The entire installation is conceived to dialogue directly with the space that hosts it, both visually and symbolically, bringing the language of contemporary art to an unconventional place. The choice of a peripheral context such as San Giovanni a Teduccio responds to the desire to activate a living interaction between the work and the local community, stimulating participatory processes and confrontation.
The exhibition consists of a set of pictorial and sculptural works arranged in different points of the sacred building, so as to create a balance with the pre-existing architecture and decorations. The installation elements follow the lines and reinterpret its history, establishing a dialogue between present and memory. Mokhtari’s works employ symbolic, architectural and ornamental forms that originate from Iranian culture, but at the same time relate to Neapolitan cultural identity, both in its material and immaterial aspects.
The opening of Corpo Aureo is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3, at 6 p.m. During the opening it will be possible to participate in a guided tour led by the artist himself, accompanied by curator Pirozzi, organizational director Assunta Saulle and project coordinator Carla Travierso. The exhibition will then be accessible to the public daily, with hours from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., until Sept. 30.
Maziar Mokhtari, born in Esfahan in 1980, lives and works between Rome and his hometown. His training began at the Youth Association of Cinema in Tehran and continued at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. His artistic journey is marked by a constant movement between places, images and cultural references, in a process that interweaves observation and reworking. The method of travel and discovery becomes the foundation of his creative approach, which is declined through the use of multiple media: painting, photography, video and installation.
A distinctive element of Mokhtari’s visual production is the use of the color yellow, which originates from the walls of his hometown and is transformed within his works into a recurring interpretive key. Yellow is not only a formal component, but takes on a symbolic function capable of supporting the philosophical, historical and anthropological content that runs through his work. In this dimension, light and color do not operate as mere aesthetic tools, but dictate the rhythm of a language that develops in the form of a continuous visual narrative.
Although articulated in distinct projects, Mokhtari’s research maintains a stylistic and conceptual coherence that runs through his entire production. The works follow one another in a unified atmosphere, where each site-specific intervention grafts itself onto the exhibition site with care and precision, returning a new reading. His practice is distinguished by his ability to interpret space as an integral part of the creative process, transforming it from a simple container into an active element of the installation.
Over the course of his career, Mokhtari has exhibited in numerous national and international exhibition contexts, including the Macro Museum in Rome, the Milan Triennale, the Maraya Art Center in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, the Stux Gallery in New York, Galleria Dino Morra in Naples, Galleria Più in Bologna, the Nuova Pesa in Rome, the Azad Art Gallery, the Ogallery in Tehran, the Emrooz Gallery in Esfahan, the Roberto Bilotti Museum in Rende (CS), and the Museo del Sale Arte Contemporanea (Saltworks).
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| Naples, Iranian Maziar Mokhtari's art in the church of San Giovanni Battista |
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