The exhibition is born from a collaboration with the artist and the Santolo De Luca Archive, curated by Alice Rubbini. In the gallery, visitors will find a unique selection of over thirty works, exclusive elements of the artist’s historical, stylistic, and linguistic research. The central piece of the exhibition, encapsulating concepts and evocative interpretive cues, is “Non Rubare” (“Thou Shalt Not Steal”), a potent moral imperative distinguishing the seventh commandment in both Jewish and Catholic tradition. It serves as a reminder that resonates across time and cultures, always strikingly relevant. Its meaning extends beyond merely refraining from taking what belongs to others; it suggests a call to succeed through one’s own means, in respect for oneself and others.
Santolo De Luca’s expressive journey began in the mid-1980s, following his academic studies. By the 1990s, he had established himself in both Italian and international contemporary painting, continuously evolving to the present with his distinctive, penetrating irony, formal attention to detail, and unique sense of volume and three-dimensionality, marked by intense light and bold color – core elements that remain essential to his style.
The artist, consistent and unique in his expressive approach, presents us here with his signature seductive conceptualism, which was identified in the 1990s as “Medialism” (Gabriele Perretta, Politi Editore, Milan, 1993). As an Italian artistic movement, and notably the last of its kind historically, Medialism comprises two significant components: analytical medialism, featuring artists like Maurizio Cattelan, and pictorial medialism, in which Santolo De Luca emerged as a leading figure, “…not coincidentally placed at the head of a group of artists labeled ‘medialists’” (L’Arte Contemporanea, Renato Barilli, Feltrinelli, 2005).
The “paint tube” motif first appeared in 1998 in the exhibition “Spirit and Matter,” a solo show by Santolo De Luca at Annina Nosei Gallery in New York. The message written through the contortion of pigment came later, evolving through various stages to arrive at color that defines itself and beyond, leading reflection to a word painted and revealed by its own title. For De Luca, concepts go beyond mere depiction: the title is integral, an open door to imaginative insight, the energy driving his world, the intellectual and emotional source. The color denies itself to the image yet embraces its own chromatic nature, painting itself … the nuances are infinite, as are the wordplay, verbal and visual resonances, and semantic ambiguity that take shape and voice, offering dimension and expression.
His painting journey is also detailed in the artist’s writings, published in a dedicated section of AARTIC Magazine (aartic.info – chapters 1 to 9 currently), titled “La paura fa ’90, ancora” (“Fear Makes 90, Again”), a long, ongoing reflection outlining his work and the numerous exhibitions punctuating his extensive career through the cultural, economic, and historical events that began in the enthusiasm of the 1990s and evolved over the past thirty years.
For Santolo De Luca, this exhibition at the Andrea Ingenito Gallery in Naples is an exceptional opportunity to reopen a dialogue with his city, its marvels and contradictions, and its vibrant cultural and popular energy, unique in every manifestation. The artist’s career, beginning in Naples on July 10, 1960, has seen him feature in numerous exhibitions across Italy, Europe, and the United States, some of which we especially remember for their significance.
