“The Human Tribe” from Naples to NYC
One of the most incredible aspects of street art is that it can take many forms and mean many things — from a small sticker pasted onto a trash can to graffiti found in a subway car to paste-ups adorning a fence. Being from Mexico, I have always felt strongly connected to murals and their powerful messages. Murals are big. Murals are vibrant. Murals are captivating. In my first Weaving the Streets installment, I focused on the artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and her "We are More" installation in New York City that centered on Asian American communities. In my second article, I had the privilege of interviewing the street artist Savior ElMundo and learned about the street art community in New York City from his first-hand perspective. In this third installment, I am excited to share my journey of leaving New York City to start the second half of my off-campus year studying in Italy, and to share my experience with Jorit, an internationally known Italian urban artist.
Encountering Jorit
In December 2022, I left New York City and my life surrounded by tall buildings and noises and flew all the way to the south of Italy to start the second half of my year abroad in the beautiful town of Sorrento. I was aware that the scenery would be completely different, but I wanted to see if street art would be as prevalent in my new home as it was in New York City.
Getting to Sorrento was a journey; I had to fly to Naples and, from there, take the Circumvesuviana train to the last stop, Sorrento. When I got off the train, I was gladly surprised to see a massive mural on a building next to the station. It was a huge, hyper-realistic mural of a man with glasses and something that looked like scars on both cheeks.
A week later, once I started classes at the Sant'Anna Institute, we received a tour of Sorrento, and we passed by the mural. I learned that the man pictured in the mural was Lucio Dalla, a famous Italian singer and composer, and that the person who made it was a Neapolitan artist named Jorit.
“Lucio Dalla” mural by Jorit in Sorrento, Italy. (Photo: Valeria Obregon)
Later that day, I began researching the artist, and I was amazed by his work and the hyper-realistic element in each of the faces he depicted in his murals. According to his website, which I translated, Jorit started creating art in 2005 in a more traditional graffiti style around Naples. Less than 20 years later, he is now a world-renowned artist who has been featured in The Guardian, BBC, Middle East Eye, TeleSur, and Euronews.
Semi-legality and the “Human Tribe”
When I was looking through his art, I noticed that the two scars I had seen in the Lucio Dalla mural were present in all of his other murals, including works of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr. Since 2013, Jorit has focused exclusively on the realistic representation of the human face. He explains that the two red stripes on the cheeks reference African magical and healing rituals, particularly in bodily scarification procedures, an initiation rite of passage from childhood to adulthood linked to the symbolic moment of the individual's entry to the tribe. Jorit creates murals of people relevant to the cities he works in and marks them through pictorial ritual; it symbolizes them entering the "Human Tribe."
Many artists are drawn to street art because it is free to view and accessible to everyone. Others use the medium to make political statements, and Jorit is no exception. In an interview with the Roman newspaper La Repubblica, Jorit stated, "I don't believe that street art can change the world, but at least it can shine a light."
He also explores the idea that his artwork started in the space of “semi-legality,” a concept that exists in Napoli but is also common in Latin America. In the “semi-legal” space, activities such as street art are not technically legal but are unlikely to provoke any legal consequences. Jorit compares his experience to that of the internationally known UK artist Bansky, who always had to think about doing a powerful work of art quickly without getting caught. On the other hand, Jorit can create a beautiful giant mural because it will improve the location, and people around it will accept it.
After building a global reputation, he started doing murals in different countries, such as Spain, Portugal, the UK, the US, and Australia. He is also known for his political activism and being vocal against war. In 2018, he was arrested in Israel for painting a mural of a Palestinian girl on Israel’s “separation wall” in the Bethlehem area.
“We need to start looking”
During my semester in Italy, I visited Naples and saw other famous Jorit murals in person. In an interview with Culture Trip, Jorit reveals the story behind his commissioned mural of San Gennaro, the city’s patron saint. However, instead of painting a likeness of San Gennaro, Jorit asked one of his friends, a factory worker, to pose for his mural. This approach echoes Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's use of ordinary, everyday street people as models for religious work. While there, I was lucky enough to see this mural, pictured below, in person.
”San Gennaro” mural by Jorit in Naples, Italy. (Photo: Valeria Obregon)
After my semester in Italy concluded, I returned to New York City for the summer. While researching, I found out that Jorit had several murals in the city, including depictions of Malcolm X and singer Lauryn Hill. I knew I needed to find them, but one thing about New York City street art is that it changes constantly; murals are quickly changed or modified with graffiti, stickers, or paste-ups. Even though I couldn't find all of them, I was happy to find a Muhammad Ali mural that Jorit created as part of the "Human Tribe."
”Ali” mural by Jorit in New York City, USA. (Photo: Valeria Obregon)
The opportunity to discover a local street artist in the south of Italy and first see his murals in Naples and then go to the other side of the world and see his recent work in New York City was incredible. Writing for Weave News has taught me that street art is all around us and is not exclusive to a specific city or country. Artists worldwide are creating pieces illegally or commissioned; some, like Jorit, create art across international boundaries in similarly “semi-legal” spaces.
There is something to learn from each piece that we see, and that is the beauty of art. Street art is all around us; we need to start looking.
