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Shepard Fairey's New Mural in Naples Calls for Peace

artist · 2026-05-04

Shepard Fairey, known as OBEY, has unveiled a new mural titled Third Eye Open Peace in Naples, Italy. The work reuses an image from his 2003 print Make Art Not War, created during the Iraq War, and updates it for the current moment. The mural features a peace sign, the word 'PACE' (Italian for peace), and a third eye opening like a flower, symbolizing inner awareness as a prerequisite for genuine peace. Fairey's slogan 'eyes open, mind open' evolves into 'third eye open,' implying a deeper responsibility. The mural is part of a broader discourse that also includes the exhibition Power To the Peaceful at Gallerie d'Italia. Naples, with its layered visual and cultural landscape, serves as an ideal site for this intervention, where the image is absorbed, discussed, and sometimes contested.

Key facts

  • Shepard Fairey created a new mural in Naples titled Third Eye Open Peace.
  • The mural reuses an image from his 2003 print Make Art Not War.
  • The work includes a peace sign, the word 'PACE', and a third eye motif.
  • Fairey's slogan evolves from 'eyes open, mind open' to 'third eye open'.
  • The mural is connected to the exhibition Power To the Peaceful at Gallerie d'Italia.
  • Naples is described as a perfect terrain for this type of intervention.
  • The mural aims to change how the urban landscape is perceived.
  • The image is meant to be absorbed, discussed, and contested.

Entities

Artists

  • Shepard Fairey

Institutions

  • Gallerie d'Italia

Locations

  • Naples
  • Italy

Sources