(ANSA) - American master sculptor Sol Lewitt has become the latest Winter Holiday guest artist in Naples' premier public space. Conceptual Art great Lewitt, 67, has erected a huge white
structure of building blocks in the Piazza del Plebiscito square - a vast arena in front of the city's sweeping Bourbon Palace.
The 23-metre-wide, three-metre-high quadrangle is a "square within a square," Campania Governor Antonio Bassolino says.
"Everything is hard and pure like the Trani stone it is made of," the governor said, adding that the work was "imbued with symbolism."
"But it's a fun thing, something you can actually use," Bassolino added.
"People love being inside it."
Lewitt, whose works are on show in several Naples galleries, follows a long line of artists who have added a thrill to the piazza during the end-of-year holidays, drawing in the crowds. In one memorable installation, bronze skulls were studded across the ground, creating the impression of ancient warriors pushing up from their graves.
The series was kicked off by local artist, Mimmo Paladino, with his 'Mountain of Salt' in 1995. As well as Lewitt, the annual event has attrracted other internationally acclaimed artists like Richard Serra ('Naples', 2003), Rebecca Horn ('Mother-of-Pearl Spirits, 2003) and Anish Kapoor (Taratantaa, 2000). Bassolino, who was Naples mayor before becoming regional chief, has spearheaded efforts to buff up the grand old square, which had fallen into grungy disrepair.
He has aimed to restore it to the city as a sort of open-air cultural salon - as well as a place for people of all ages to simply hang out and have fun.
"Contemporary art in Piazza del Plebiscito invites us to dwell on the concept of community and have a clean, clear and intimate space to talk and listen to each other," Bassolino says.
