David Bowes' Lyrical Fantasy Returns to Naples

David Bowes presents 'Fantasticheria lirica' at a Naples gallery, running until July 4. The exhibition traces his rigorous painting from the late 1990s to recent works, marking a conceptual return to the city he loves. Bowes lived in Naples in the 1980s, collaborating with gallerist Lucio Amelio and entering the Terrae Motus collection at the Reggia di Caserta with a 1986 piece. His figurative vocabulary, influenced by Italian painting and friendships with Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Luigi Ontani, Nicola De Maria, and Mario Schifano, remains independent of trends. The show opens with bucolic works inspired by Italian pastoral painting, featuring archetypes like Pulcinella in alpine settings ('Moving on', 2009). It progresses to landscapes with allegorical figures and saints, then urban contexts creating tension between nature and artifice. Recent works show greater conceptual synthesis. The title derives from a critical text by Alan Jones.