Napoli paper

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Mary C

Stickers, paste-ups and posters seen around Naples.

below: Love letters pasted to the wall, each decorated with a little red or pink heart. So many words and expressions such as – “Dillo con volo fiori” (Say it with flying flowers), “Non ti ho detto mai quello. Che me fai.” (I never told you that, what are you doing to me?)

below: “Yes I know My Way” by Renzo Mezzetti on the right and a blue woman smelling a blue flower on the left.

below: Someone’s not happy ….

below: On the left is an old cyop & kaf face – there are a lot of paintings by Cyop & Kaf and I blogged about them previously (Cyop & Kaf in Naples)

below: With a red heart in its mouth, by RNZ aka Zenro. Also, in the top left corner, the faceless photographer, “the photographer all over”, this is mrbt62

below: Here stands Viracocha, the supreme creator deity in pre-Incan Andean mythology.

below: Surrealism? Or just a bizarre imagination?

below: Completely covered

below: Words around a door

words pasted letter by letter on the side of a wall between two doors of residences, Naples,

Lady, [words behind air conditioner] .. veramente stassera in connanti niente appena arrivate bendalevi visivede which google translate says in English, “Actually tonight in cash nothing as soon as you arrive blindfolded you will see”.

signora siete 9 uasi e lo sarete senon portate stassa….. The bottom part is illegible so the fact that google translate says the first part means, “Madam, you are almost 9 and you will be if you don’t bring this” is also meaningless….Maybe the picture of the man with a gun to his head is part of it all!

below: Playing card graffiti by Francesco Di Martino, and a melting globe head by Lumen.

below: Trallalla’s drawing of a Bishop wearing a pirate hat and eye patch.

below: Trallalla is also responsible for the “Save the Mermaids” paste-ups.

below: Another heavy (pregnant?) mermaid, this time with drawings that look like they have been done by children.

below: Graffiti Propaganda and Fishes Invasion (Merioone)

below: A prickly cactus? or a hairy hand? holding an anatomical heart .

Photos taken February 2024

cyop & kaf in Naples

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Mary C

If you walk around the old part of Naples (particularly the Quartieri Spagnoli), you will see many murals and paintings by the Italian duo Cyop & Kaf. Many of them are weathered and faded or written over but they are still hard to miss. This is a selection of the ones that I saw in Naples one wet spring day.

Flat characters, stylized, simplified.

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, three crosses on a blue hill that is encircled by long black arms of a blackcharacter in a red skirt and white top

Exaggerated body parts

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, a figure drinking a glass of red wine, long pointy white nose, red pants, sitting on a rock with Napoli spray painted on it, a silver coloured motorcycle is parked next to the mural

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, banner with cuban flag flying from back of man's head

Missing body parts. Awkward positions.

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, black man in white outfit on the back of a horse with no hind legs, front legs have boots, one red and one black

Surreal situations

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, black figure lying on back, long nose is holding up a tray with three white bottles on it

Improbable proportions and impossible actions

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, one headless figure in grey is punching hole in middle of another flat figure in grey. second man has tiny red head

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, figure sitting on a black chair, one blue hand and one black hand small blue boots,

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, small figures standing on red half torsos, jousting

mural by artists cyop and kaf in naples, man lunging position

two men in white tops and orange pants, with a red banner

Photos taken February 2024

football and the ‘cult’ of Maradona

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Mary C

References to Diego Maradona are everywhere in Naples! Maradona (1960-2020) was a football hero to many. He joined Napoli’s football team (Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, or SSC Napoli) in 1984 and took a lacklustre team and made them winners. During the seven years that Maradona led the Naples team they won two Series A titles – the first southern Italian team to do so. His influence on Naples lives on.

below: This forty foot high mural is the center of all things Maradona. There are direction signs all over the old part of the city (Quartieri Spagnoli) showing the way to this small square. If you visit, expect to find it full of fans!

diego maradona themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli,

Also, expect to find all kinds of tributes to Napoli’s favorite footballer all over the city.

below: Maradona is not the only player celebrated here. This mural is a tribute to Dries Mertens, “il miglior goleador” [= the best goal scorer] and “148 gol, 9 anni, di storia amore”

diers mertens, football player, themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli,

diego maradona themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli, maradona dressed as a bishop with staff and funny hat, bishops mitre

diego maradona themed street art in quatieri spagnoli in naples napoli, many life sized football players on a wall

below: Maradona as king, artwork by Mr. Pencil

below: Number 9 is not Maradona. The little band of yellow hair on top gives it away as Victor Osimhen, originally from Nigeria.

below: Nicely placed women beside Franco Martinez’s portrait of Maradona.

below: Another portrait of Naples most famous #10, this one by Yessica Garcia.

Photos taken February 2024

Toto and friends

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Mary C

alley in old city part of Naples, stone pavement, motorbike, old murals on the wall, Toto Alley, Vico Toto, portraits of Antonio de Curtis, an actor from the 1950s and 1960s,

In the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarter) of Naples there is an alley, Vico Totò, with many portraits that pay tribute to Totò, the stage name of an Italian actor Antonio “Totò” De Curtis (1898-1967). There are several paintings of him in some of his acting roles; He appeared in 97 films in a career that spanned three decades. There are also some other actors represented here.

below: Only the top part remains – including his black bowler hat.

black and white mural, portrait of actor Toto in sunglasses at end of his nose, wearing black bowler, lower part of mural has been worn away

below: A couple stands in front of Davide Zeka’s painting ofTotò in the role of a priest.

a couple stands in front of a street art painting of an actor dressed as a Roman Catholic priest in a black and hat and white clerical collar

below: “Stu core analfabeta” This illiterate heart….

below: Michele Wuk’s ‘Totò con la papalina’ where the words say “L’educazione non passa mai di moda” (Totò with the skullcap: “Education never goes out of style”),

mural in Naples, man's portrait, of Toto the actor, beside a clothes line with laundry, also text in Italian that says L’educazione non passa mai di moda

mural tributes to Italian actor Antonio de Curtis, or Toto, in an alley in the old part of Naples,

below: Human Hero aka Luca Carnevale, Nino Taranto, another actor, as the Flash, “Flash of Genius” says the text

portrait of a man with a mustache, he's wearing red top of the Flash outfit, on orange background

below: Toto as Superman on Porta Carrese Monte Calvapio (also Human Hero)

portrait of balding man in superman top and red cape, street sign for Porta Crrese Monte Calvapio, and a one way sign,

below: Lino Ozon’s ‘Lola’ which shows Totò dressed in drag to play Lolita in the 1962 film ‘Totofraffa’. In this movie he appears in many disguises.