The Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte in Naples dedicates a commemorative room (number 16, on the second floor) to Mimmo Jodice (Naples, March 29, 1934 - October 27, 2025), a central figure in international contemporary photography. The images on display come from the series Transits (2008), a work composed of twenty-one polyptychs for a total of fifty-five prints, which entered the Museum’s collections along with other works by the photographer, such as Homage to Rodin, Avant-Garde in Naples, Eden and The Invisible City. These nuclei, together with the artist’s documentary archive, will form the basis of the future center dedicated to the culture and appreciation of photography, named after Jodice himself and soon to be opened in the Cataneo building in the eastern area of the Real Bosco.
The Transiti series reflects Jodice’s close relationship with Neapolitan cultural institutions. Commissioned on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the museum’s opening to the public, the work encompasses two main axes of his research: on the one hand, his predilection for urban views, suspended landscapes and places that evoke memory; and on the other, his return, after his social commitment in the 1970s, to the investigation of the human figure, the portrait and the dialogue with the pictorial tradition and the legacy of classical art.
The choice of diptych and polyptych creates a play of cross-references between different eras, creating a comparison between painting and photography, between sacred and everyday dimensions. Fragments taken from masterpieces by Titian, Artemisia Gentileschi, Jusepe de Ribera and Luca Giordano are juxtaposed with the faces of men, women and children of contemporary Naples, suggesting an ideal bridge between past and present but also a caesura, an interruption, that stimulates a more complex reading of historical continuity. The title Transiti (Transits ) recalls movement, passage, transformation: a crossing that allows us to grasp, in the present, the echo of what has been and an opening toward what is to come. The prints are made in True Black Fine-Art Giclée technique on 100% cotton Photo-Rag, in a limited series of five editions.
Since the 1970s, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte has cultivated a deep relationship with Jodice, who over the years has donated valuable materials to the institution, including his camera obscura, which is destined to be exhibited in the new Multipurpose Center, along with his archive and publications.
The center, designed according to the famous photographer’s wishes, will be dedicated to the promotion of contemporary photography: it will house workspaces for young authors, an archive and a specialized library, rooms for educational activities, darkrooms, areas equipped for production and digitization, as well as meeting areas and a refreshment point.
“With the passing of the Maestro, we felt the rightful need to set up a celebratory room while we are working on our double project,” emphasizes the director of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco Eike Schmidt, “compared to what was assumed at the time of the generous donation to Capodimonte. As already announced, in addition to the Multipurpose Center named after him, Jodice’s works will be exhibited in a permanent space on the third floor of the Reggia, in the Contemporary Art section where all the photographic works acquired by Capodimonte will be offered in rotation and hosted exhibitions. I again thank Master Jodice and his family for sharing in every step of a long-awaited tribute by the city and the Italian and international art community.”
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| The Capodimonte Museum is dedicating a room to Mimmo Jodice. A multipurpose center will also be named after him |
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