In Il prato del vicino (The neighbor’s meadow), presented at EDICOLA480, Vega Flux – pseudonym of Chiara Panunzio, Apulian painter born in 1997 – constructs an image that does not exhaust itself within the pictorial dimension, but instead opens onto a network of historical, symbolic and perceptual references. The exhibition space – conceived as a permeable threshold between artwork and city – amplifies the direct and interrogative nature of the piece, which confronts the viewer as an ambiguous presence, capable of activating layered readings without ever settling into a single, closed narrative.
EDICOLA480, 2025, Vega Flux, “Il prato del vicino”, olio su tela, 120×100 cm, 2023, ph. Danilo Donzelli, courtesy Edicola480
The central figure, caught in a tense and directional posture, carries an energy that exceeds the represented gesture itself. This stance explicitly recalls the iconography of Gerda Taro, the photographer and war reporter whose image taken during the Spanish Civil War has, over time, become a visual synthesis of exposure, risk and determination. Vega Flux does not reference Taro as homage or illustration, but rather absorbs her posture as an archetype: a body advancing forward, taking a position, situating itself within a space of tension between action and vulnerability. Historical memory is thus translated into a suspended gesture, stripped of its original battlefield context yet charged with an emotional latency that continues to question the present. The title Il prato del vicino functions as a conceptual device that further displaces the work’s gravity center. It does not refer to a specific place, but to a mental construction, an imagined space of desire that is never possessed, always defined through comparison. The “lawn” becomes a metaphor for a gaze projected elsewhere, for a constant tension toward what appears better, freer, more accessible. In this sense, the work does not stage an explicit conflict, but rather its precondition: desire as a silent force, an invisible engine behind gestures and expectations.
EDICOLA480, 2025, Vega Flux, “Il prato del vicino”, olio su tela, 120×100 cm, 2023, ph. Danilo Donzelli, courtesy Edicola480
Vega Flux’s painting operates through continuous slippages. Color does not stabilize the scene; instead, it renders it unstable, artificial, almost mental. The green of the landscape does not evoke a reassuring idea of nature, but a constructed symbolic space traversed by latent tension. Within this chromatic field, the presence of parrots introduces an additional level of dissonance. Exotic animals, foreign to the context, act as disturbing elements that disrupt any naturalistic reading. They are not decorative figures, but presences that observe, interfere and make the landscape less legible and more unsettled. The artist’s practice thus unfolds in a zone of friction between personal memory, collective imagery and symbolic construction. Painting becomes a space of negotiation, where the gesture is never fully controlled and the image remains open, vulnerable. The reference to the fairy tale – understood not as a comforting narrative but as a structure capable of holding ambiguity – emerges as a method: what appears simple conceals an unresolved complexity, shaped by desires, projections and subtle fears.
EDICOLA480, 2025, Vega Flux, “Il prato del vicino”, olio su tela, 120×100 cm, 2023, ph. Danilo Donzelli, courtesy Edicola480
Within EDICOLA480, this dimension is further intensified. The gallery window, conceived as a direct point of contact with the urban fabric, eliminates the distance between artwork and public. The image intercepts the gaze within the flow of everyday life, without mediation, exposing itself to the risk of accidental encounter. In this context, Il prato del vicino does not ask for contemplation, but for attention: it invites viewers to question not only what they see, but how they mentally construct meaning through looking. Vega Flux’s work restores to painting the ability to function as a space of productive ambiguity, where historical memory – filtered through references such as Gerda Taro – does not crystallize into an iconic image, but is transformed into contemporary tension. An unstable site in which the desire for elsewhere becomes a mirror of our projections, and the suspended gesture continues to question those who observe it.
Info:
EDICOLA480
Vega Flux #3: Il prato del vicino
10/12/2025 – 15/01/2026
Via San Pasquale a Chiaia 61, Napoli
www.instagram.com/edicola480
Actor and performer, he loves visual arts in all their manifestations.
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