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hotel di Anacapri che l’11 luglio, in un’asta
benefica che verrà battuta da Sotheby’s,
finirà il viaggio di questa mandria colorata.
Il ricavato sarà devoluto in beneficenza alla
Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara per progetti
destinati al territorio campano.
AN AUTEUR HERD
by Camilla Contini
After twenty years travelling the
world for art and charity, the Cow
Parade has landed on Capri.
Where else but the Swiss Alps could
have conceived the colourful herd
of cattle that has been invading the
world’s cities for 20 years, only to land on
Capri in 2008? The original idea belongs to
the sculptor Pascal Knapp, who designed the
three basic models; now his Cow Parade is a
travelling exhibition that has been mounted in
over forty cities worldwide, involving hundreds
of artists and other creative types around the
globe, and raising over 40 million euros for
charity.
The young herd soon migrated from Zurich
to far-off metropolises, stopping in New
York, Chicago, Sydney, London, São Paulo,
Moscow, and Tokyo, and will be sampling the
“pastures” of Capri’s best-known locations
until 11 July.
An Internet invitation got the artists and
creative types started; their sketches and
projects were sorted by a special artistic
committee and then underwent their
transformation into the auteur herd, first
assembled in a symbolic cowshed cum artist’s
studio that was installed in the former offices
of the Alilauro Company in Naples.
Thirty cows in all, which embarked on Capri
and soon scattered throughout the island’s
byways. Welcoming those who step off the
ferries or other vessels in Capri’s harbour, is
none other than Holiday in Capri, conceived
by the designer Sergio Fabio Rotella, greeting
visitors in her red-and-white-striped swimsuit,
a garland of lemons around her neck, and
shocking pink sunglasses perched on her
nose. Doing the honours over at the port’s
Tourist Office is Mucca Caprina, a veritable
photo souvenir of the island created by the
young artist Giovanna Incudine.
The golden cow with the red horns parked
next to the Hotel La Palma is clearly the work
of Lello Esposito, the Neapolitan painter
and sculptor who has made Pulcinella, St.
Gennaro, and horns in all their guises his
trademarks. This cow’s got company: Sotto la
Sopra, un artista
al lavoro
nella “stalla-atelier”
e, a sinistra,
la “Happy Fifty Chupa”
realizzata dall’agenzia
di comunicazione
Selection.
Above, artist at work in
the “cowshed/studio”
and, left, the Happy
Fifty Chupa created by
the communications
company Selection.
palma la mucca
calma, designed
by Neapolitan artist
Valeria Corvino.
And a homegrown
talent from Anacapri
across the island
conceived the
romantic cow named
Night & Day: artist
Ottavio Cacace’s
variation on the
theme can be found
in Piazza Vittoria. A
little farther on down
the road, opposite
the Casa Rossa,
the Japanese artist
Shozo Shimamoto,
a leading exponent
of the Gutai Group,
has designed Capri
Dreams, who greets
visitors to the island’s
museum. Anacapri
also hosts the cow
called Semovent
vulcanica by painter
Ernesto Tatafiore, at the entrance to the Capri
Palace. And it’s right here in this splendid
hotel in Anacrapi, on the occasion of a charity
auction to be run by Sotheby’s and held on
11 July, that the many-coloured cattle herd’s
journey will come to an end. The proceeds
will be donated to the Fondazione Cannavaro
Ferrara for its charity work in the region of
Campania.
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