Caputo Award: Neapolitan art comes to New York!
Caputo Award: An artistic journey through flour and memory
There's something magical about seeing an idea become a journey. The Caputo Prize, created to celebrate the centenary of Mulino Caputo, has done just that: transforming a corporate anniversary into a real opportunity for young artists. After the exciting success of the exhibition in Naples, we are now preparing to bring that energy to New York, from June 17 to 30, 2025, at the Italian Cultural Institute. The works created by my colleagues at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples are not just contemporary art: they are windows onto popular life, onto neighborhood cuisine, onto the beating heart of a vibrant and generous city. The Caputo Prize is just that: a space where traditions intertwine with the dreams of those who create.
Naples' identity takes flight
The beauty of a project like this is that it starts in one city, but speaks to the world. The Caputo Prize, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, becomes a cultural ambassador. The first stop on the tour, New York, is not just a showcase of excellence: it is the beginning of an international dialogue on art, food, and memory. Naples, with its 2,500 years of history, is narrated through my vision, using pencils, ink, markers, and gel pens on Fabriano Tiepolo paper: simple materials that bring complex emotions to life. An emotional manifesto, family stories that resonate wherever there is someone who loves to cook, remember, and share.
Caputo Award: When art smells like home
My work, M.A.R.I.A. - Magici aromi rivivono in arte, is part of this wonderful journey. It is a polyptych of seven panels, 620mm x 420mm, created with pencil, ink, Indian ink, gel pen, and alcohol markers. Each panel is a journey into the soul. The Caputo Prize gave me the opportunity to tell my story through the kitchen of my childhood. I thought of my grandmother, her constantly floured hands, the yellowed and greasy recipe paper, the love passed from generation to generation with a word, a gesture, a dish. Art and food are not so different: both evoke, both move. And today, this story comes to New York.
Tradition and innovation: a culture to be exported
We're often accustomed to thinking of culture as something static, tied to the past. The Caputo Prize shows us otherwise. Here, culture is movement, a bridge between Naples and the world, between different generations, between art and social responsibility. With this initiative, Mulino Caputo demonstrates the power of corporate commitment when they decide to invest in beauty, creativity, and education. The sustainability so much talked about here becomes real: environmental, of course, but also social, economic, and emotional. Bringing Neapolitan art to New York means demonstrating that Naples has so much to say. And that the Caputo Prize is an authoritative voice in this narrative.
Caputo Award: One Stage, a Thousand Directions
New York isn't a destination; it's just the beginning. With the Caputo Prize, we're building a journey that will take the works of our emerging artists around the world. Each stop will be an opportunity to celebrate Neapolitan culture in a contemporary way, to rediscover the beauty of everyday gestures, to affirm the value of emotional memory. Personally, I'm thrilled and grateful. Seeing my work, born of home, memories, and aromas, exhibited in New York is a dream come true. And I'm happy to be able to share it, thanks to the Caputo Prize, with anyone who wants to be touched by art that smells of freshly baked bread and sincere love.