"Who Are You, Naples?" as part of the JR: Chronicles project

Gallerie d'Italia - Napoli, from 22 May to 5 October 2025, presents the exhibition of the French artist JR 'Who are you, Naples?’, the eighth chapter in the Chronicles series, following previous works in Clichy-Montfermeil (2017), San Francisco (2018), New York (2018), Miami (2022), Kyoto (2024), three American cities (Dallas, Saint Louis, and Washington DC) with a mural on the theme of guns in America (2018), and fifteen cities in Cuba (2019). This marks the first installation of this type in Italy, carried out with the patronage of the City of Naples.

JR's site-specific work will be revealed on the facade of Naples' Duomo, transformed into a mosaic of local faces, embodying the community spirit, resilience, energy, and multifaceted soul of the city.

In September 2024, French artist JR began a deep exploration of Naples’ complex cultural identity. Over the course of one week, from September 23 to 29, residents from seven neighborhoods took center stage: Piazza Sanità, Piazza Dante, Fuorigrotta, Mergellina, San Giovanni a Teduccio, Piazza Cavour and Borgo Sant'Antonio Abate.

During this intense period, portraits and stories of 606 Neapolitans from diverse social and cultural backgrounds were collected, capturing the essence of Naples. If the project had been done a week earlier or later, it would have been entirely different. It is made of the people who were there, at that moment.

The result of JR's work is a monumental photographic collage on the façade of the Duomo, which is also narrated in its composition in an exhibition at the Gallerie d’Italia of Intesa Sanpaolo on Via Toledo. The exhibition will also showcase three murals from the Chronicles series, created in France (Chroniques de Clichy-Montfermeil), Cuba (Las Crónicas de Cuba), and the USA (The Gun Chronicles: A Story of America), demonstrating how JR’s art can spark conversations and create a powerful visual impact.