Erwin Olaf's First Solo Show in Naples at Al Blu di Prussia

The historic Neapolitan gallery Al Blu di Prussia presents 'I Am', the first solo exhibition in Naples of Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf (1959-2023), curated by Maria Savarese. The show features about eighteen photographs from Olaf's mature period (2000-2020), including series such as 'Royal Blood', 'Rain', 'Fall', 'Grief', 'Dawn', 'Keyole', 'Hamburg', 'Shanghai', 'Indochine', 'Palm Springs', and 'April Fool', plus six video artworks from 2003-2020. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Paci Contemporary of Brescia and Studio Erwin Olaf in Amsterdam. Olaf, official portraitist of the Dutch royal family since 2017 and designer of the euro coin in 2013, is known for his painterly, cinematic style referencing Dutch Golden Age painting, Renaissance art, and filmmakers like Visconti, Pasolini, Fellini, and David Lynch. The gallery, founded in 1943 by Guido Mannajuolo in Palazzo Mannajuolo (designed by Giulio Ulisse Arata), was reopened in 2008 by the Mannajuolo family under director Mario Pellegrino. Savarese's photography program at the gallery began in 2018 and has previously featured Francesca Woodman, Giovanni Gastel, Guy Bourdin, Gianpaolo Barbieri, and Alfa Castaldi.