Like a funeral song of ancient origin, evocative and layered, the exhibition Pompeii Threnody by Cerith Wyn Evans (Llanelli, 1958) seeks to open a silent and unintentional dialogue with the memory of Pompeii, with the idea of a reflection on time, transformation and the survival of human experience in places marked by catastrophe. The site-specific installation, conceived specifically for theAntiquarium of Boscoreale and Villa Regina, will be on view from July 19, 2025 to January 11, 2026. The opening and press preview are scheduled for Friday, July 18, starting at 12 noon.
The Welsh artist confronts for the first time the places and findings of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii through an exhibition created as part of Pompeii Commitment. Archaeological Matters. The program, dedicated to the dialogue between archaeology and contemporary art practices, offers here its first exhibition specifically designed for the spaces of the Antiquarium of Boscoreale.
Curated by Andrea Viliani with Stella Bottai, Laura Mariano and Caterina Avataneo, Pompeii Threnody develops as a visual narrative interwoven with references, connections and stratifications, in which collective memory is summoned through symbolic and installation elements. Twelve works are presented in the exhibition, ten of them conceived specifically for the occasion, in a direct confrontation with the nature of the host site and its material stratification.
Wyn Evans’ approach, which has always questioned the perceptive and cognitive possibilities of the viewer, is intertwined with the archaeological dimension of the site and the surrounding landscape, with the aim of creating a visual and conceptual fabric in which past and present coexist. A series of photogravures is dedicated to the cypresses of the Sarno plain, plant elements that impose themselves as natural symbols of persistence and transformation.
The artist returns them as apparitions, visual imprints that evoke the geological and cultural memory of the Vesuvian territory, suggesting a silent reading of the landscape as a living archive. Instead, a light installation is inspired by the ceremonial chariot found at Civita Giuliana, an artifact that has attracted international attention for its exceptional integrity and symbolic value. Projected onto this installation is the Latin palindrome “In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni” (“Let us go round in circles in the night and be consumed by fire”), a circular evocation of the ephemeral and of destruction, but also of the cyclical rebirth of matter and memory. On the patio of the Antiquarium, a group of lamp-sculptures in the shape of golden palm trees establishes a visual and architectural link with the nearby Villa Regina. Palm trees, a symbolic element associated with regeneration and survival, here take the form of luminous and golden bodies, extending the reflection on the transformation of matter in a symbolic and contemplative key.
Two of the works presented in the exhibition, the photogravures and the light installation, will become part of the permanent collection of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, helping to strengthen the path of integration between archaeological heritage and contemporary art that the Park has been promoting in recent years. The exhibition is supported by the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation. The exhibition project has been realized with the support of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, with Silvia Martina Bertesago in the role of Single Process Manager and with the curatorial and organizational assistance of Anna Civale and Giorgio Motisi. Pompeii Threnody continues and enriches the survey promoted by Pompeii Commitment. Archaeological Matters, a program initiated with the aim of redefining the relationship between the materials of the past and the artistic practices of the present. Cerith Wyn Evans’ intervention, while rooted in the contemporary dimension, confronts the stratified memory of the archaeological site, returning a visual experience suspended between absence and presence, disintegration and survival.
Cerith Wyn Evans’ conceptual practice crosses multiple languages, investigating the connections between light, text, perception and language. Her formally rigorous and site-specific installations invite the viewer to become aware of his or her own role within the work. After a debut related to “expanded cinema,” since the 1990s the artist has been developing a language in which texts, gestures and scores are interwoven in scenarios that act as devices of meaning, capable of generating multiple readings.
Sophisticated aesthetics and transversal references, from architecture to music, from Japanese theater to psychoanalysis, characterize work that relates objects, concepts and space, constructing an arena of contradictions in which desire and reality confront each other. His numerous solo exhibitions include those at Centre Pompidou-Metz (2024), Espace Louis Vuitton and Taka Ishii Gallery in Tokyo, Marian Goodman (Paris and New York), Pirelli HangarBicocca (Milan), and Tate Britain (London). He has participated in several international biennials and exhibitions. He lives and works in London.
Tickets: Full: € 8 | Reduced: € 2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 25 (not completed)
Admission: Monday-Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with last admission at 6 p.m.
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| Pompeii Threnody: Cerith Wyn Evans' exhibition at the Antiquarium of Boscoreale |
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