Nino Longobardi: “My Christ ready made”

Believer or atheist? I don’t know how to define myself, I’m certainly not religious, but it’s also true that I grew up with the image of Christ. Nino Longobardi an artist who unhinges all conformism to try to reach the core of things. He this time his work destined to amaze also for the size and for the location.

It is a huge Christ, which has just been donated by Roberto Polo, Cuban collector and patron, to the Archbishopric of the city of Toledo, one of the major tourist destinations in Spain, where the statue will be admired by thousands of visitors.

In a square adjacent to the central monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, the bronze Christ will be placed, with open arms towards the sky, inscribed in a circle. The work was valued at around 250,000 euros and measures four and a half meters.

Lombards, how was this work born?

The client chose the place, but the idea of ​​the 80s work, there were two other examples in aluminum, even if this remains a unique piece, in bronze, designed for an open place.

How does a religious work fit into your artistic path?

For me Christ as a ready made. A sign, a figure already beautiful and ready, certainly very powerful, with which to work. On the other hand, precisely because it is a strong sign, there is no need for baroque, as we have known it for two thousand years and I like it. Speak a universal language. I didn’t want to tamper with it too much.

And the presence of the circle?

That linked to a profound reflection, which is part of my research. like a ring of Saturn that refers to a cosmic dimension. For the rest, Christ had to remain in the traditional form of him, I would never have made him “cubist” or anything else.

No mystical phase then?

No, in fact. I don’t care if it’s misunderstood, misunderstandings are part of the game, they trigger a certain dynamism.

Is there a specificity in thinking of a work for a square or a public dimension in general? After all, works by him are already in other places, including the Naples underground.

For me it is the same as thinking of a work for a closed museum or a street or a square. Art in cities has always worked, from ancient to contemporary. If we take a large sculpture of Gemito and place it on a pedestal it does not change compared to a location in a museum, it works the same.

You have been living for some time between Naples and Spain. How is the relationship with your city?

I like this balance between two worlds, when I am too much in Naples I can escape to Spain. But then it often happens that nostalgia destroys me, at night I dream of the piperno of Naples, Piazza Mercato … and so I come back. When I’m in Naples, it seems strange, but I rest.

How do you see the city in terms of art at the moment?

It seems to me that we are in a moment of “pensamiento”, of pause. There is a certain saturation, everywhere, of the art market invaded by poor products. Many fashions are at an end. Another art that does not care about the market, that continues to exist on its own ….

I taught at the Academy but now I don’t. I don’t know if there are promising young people, I don’t see them. I don’t go through galleries: if I see someone better than me I get angry, if I see bad things I get angry anyway.

One of his works in the Terrae Motus collection by Lucio Amelio. Have you followed the latest events?

It seems to me that it is slowly finding its rightful place in the Royal Palace of Caserta. It blends a bit in the rooms, among the furnishings, but in my opinion it works.