“Mermaids Cliff” is one of Walter Capezzali‘s collections.

A dark sky, storm presage. In the foreground: steps of a theatre with classical ruins. An old tragedy is to be played?
A red sail ship has moored. Ulysses has got off. He is puzzled. Wearing a fur, ear closing hat, to protect himself from the enchanting song. The mermaids are there, splendid and in fashion. Oddly, they are wearing Louis Vuitton.

The Interpretation of the Artist

Walter Capezzali, in his work, sees with his fantasy the most difficult moments of Ulysse’s adventure in the Mediterranean Sea: the meeting with the sirens. Here, the artist uses the metaphor of the great brand, irresistible appeal for many people. This is a metaphor for a world that has replaced myths with consumer reality. A world that traps the minds and makes you lose the sense of true values. Now, who are the spokespersons for the bewitching messages of consumerism? Those models, with perfect bodies, with muscular and sinuous features. Those characters made poor Ulysses believe that by obtaining what consumerism promises, he will have a long and healthy life, full of well-being and happiness. Instead, Ulysses is under a dark sky. If he wants to survive, he must resist the bewitching songs of the sirens.

The sense of modern life

Therefore, here’s how Capezzali manages to summarize modern life in a scene. Without detracting from what, more than two thousand years ago, Homer had written to remind humans, mortals, how dangerous the call of the sirens was.