The world's largest Che Guevara mural has appeared on social housing blocks in Naples
Based on an article from Lonely Planet | Friday, 26 October 2018 | Click here for original article
Dutch-Neapolitan artist Jorit Agoch has painted an enormously impressive mural of the revolutionary legend, Che Guevara, which he has painted across the facades of two social housing blocks in the easterly outskirts of Naples.
Emblazoned on the westerly walls of housing estate Taverna del Ferro, in the working class San Giovanni a Teduccio neighbourhood, Agoch has conjured an imposing and almost messianic portrait of the rebellious fighter.
Ten stories-high and covering over 700 square-metres of concrete, the rusty-coloured mural breaks the record for the largest ever image of Che Guevara in the world. The rebel’s face is painted in vivid Caravaggio-esque detail, which despite its size, took only 40 days to fully complete this summer.
With Agoch’s signature red stripes dashed across both cheeks like Native American tribal markings, Guevara appears primed for battle and on the verge of victoriously reclaiming the streets of Naples with the local residents in tow.
It is the largest mural of Che Guevara in the world.
For the provocative artist, who was recently arrested in Israel for painting a portrait of seventeen year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi on the dividing wall in the West Bank, the decision to paint Guevara has its roots in the simplicity of the message.
‘‘Che Guevara is like a lighthouse, a guiding force for all my life decisions” explained Agoch to AgenPress. He was hoping the universally-recognised figure would have a similar impact on the residents of the beleaguered neighbourhood.
So far, his hopes have been fulfilled; speaking to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, a member of the housing estate’s resident committee explained that for them the mural ‘is about encouraging us all to stand up to every type of exploitation and oppression, and to encourage renewed social and political struggle’.
The residents even went a step further to support the artist by raising funds from visitors as well as locals to sustain Agoch’s future works, which would continue to expose the much-needed social and architectural regeneration in the area.
With a flick of his paintbrush Agoch’s creative revolution has ignited in San Giovanni a Teduccio, and once again Che Guevara is firmly leading the way.
Based on a Lonely Planet article by Sophia Seymour
