The cork? It's a work of art. In Capri there are over ten thousand on display

by Marco Milano

At the Serena Messanelli Zweig Foundation, the new cultural center a few steps from the square, the exhibition “10.381 Caps on display” by Luigi Masecchia, curated by Massimo Esposito and Bruno Flavio, continues until July 13. The artist, known for having transformed metal caps into a true means of expression, with an innovative and sustainable vision, has elevated a waste object to an art form, giving life to works and design objects of great visual impact. And 10,381 is the number of caps used to create this first Capri exhibition by the artist, which brings together a selection of his most recent production, combining art and inclusion. Luigi Masecchia's innovation thus demonstrates that even a simple metal cap can become a work of art, a symbol of sustainability and a new opportunity for those living in difficult conditions. The exhibition, inaugurated in recent days in the presence of the artist, the curators and the President of the Foundation, Emilio Ruotolo, wants to send a message of social inclusion through the artistic medium. Masecchia's work "is not limited to the creative process, but is structured as a format that combines art, recycling and social activity - we read in the presentation - collecting over 1,100,000 bottle caps per month from all over the world with the involvement of disadvantaged and disabled children in the creative process, his approach not only promotes recycling and respect for the environment, but also stimulates the inventiveness and social integration of those who participate in the project". The Capri exhibition includes about ten large-scale works made with mixed media, some dedicated to figures and characters who have already become pop icons, such as Charlot, Totò, Pino Daniele, Lucio Dalla, Maradona, Marilyn Monroe, and includes an unpublished work dedicated to the island. “The pop iconography of Totò, Pino Daniele, Maradona and Marilyn Monroe resonate particularly intensely here in Capri – explains Bruno Flavio – where the Neapolitan identity intertwines with the international spirit of the island. Over the years, Capri has hosted characters like these, between cinema, music and sports, becoming a meeting point between popular culture and social life. A context that marries well with the language of pop art and the aesthetic revolution of sustainability.” Luigi Masecchia, born in 1975, graduated from the Boccioni Art Institute in Naples, launched the “Tapppost” project over ten years ago: innovating through art, recycling everyday objects. An initiative based on the use of recycled metal bottle caps, initially collected in various clubs of the Neapolitan nightlife, but today it also includes international venues among its suppliers. The bottle caps arrive from all over the world via couriers or friends returning from trips.

To date, approximately one hundred and six million bottle caps have been collected, which have allowed the birth of a new genre of pop art. "Luigi Masecchia is a very original artist - underlines Massimo Esposito - as all his works are a collage of metal bottle caps, therefore a recycled object that in his hands and with his compositions becomes a work of art. His initiation was with comics, mostly inspired by the American pop artist Roy Liechtenstein Coca-Cola cans rather than images of superheroes and little by little this way of expressing himself led him to compose portraits of characters from our daily history, such as Sophia Loren, Pino Daniele, Lucio Dalla Totò

Even today Luigi Masecchia is one of the few artists who uses this very banal tool to create his works, perhaps one of the first in the world to use it. A great peculiarity is that in the research for these caps he uses communities of young people to whom he asks to participate in this research”.