Belvedere Tragara, Capri
12 June - 25 September 2026
Giuseppe Lo Schiavo
Delphis
A project by Plan X Gallery,
curated in collaboration with the City of Capri.
Courtesy of the artist.
The three dolphins overlooking the Belvedere di Tragara originate from Rotta, a video installation presented at Palazzo Vecchio in March 2026 and dedicated to migration across the contemporary Mediterranean.
The work stems from a performance in open sea. On December 10, 2025, ten miles off the Costa degli Dei in Calabria, a head of Apollo was entrusted to the sea during a ceremony accompanied by the Banda di Pizzo Calabro. During the ritual, several dolphins swam alongside the boats, accompanying the action until its conclusion.
In Greek tradition, Apollo is also the god who can appear in the form of a dolphin — delphis. For the artist, that encounter transformed the dolphins into a symbolic presence: not only real animals, but figures suspended between myth, history, and the Mediterranean landscape.
From a distance, their bodies appear whole and harmonious. Up close, however, the bronze surface reveals engravings, cuts, and signs of malnutrition. The beauty of the form gives way to a more fragile condition: these dolphins become sentinels of the sea, mythical yet vulnerable bodies, marked by the same environment they inhabit.
A project by Plan X Gallery,
curated in collaboration with the City of Capri.
Courtesy of the artist.
The three dolphins overlooking the Belvedere di Tragara originate from Rotta, a video installation presented at Palazzo Vecchio in March 2026 and dedicated to migration across the contemporary Mediterranean.
The work stems from a performance in open sea. On December 10, 2025, ten miles off the Costa degli Dei in Calabria, a head of Apollo was entrusted to the sea during a ceremony accompanied by the Banda di Pizzo Calabro. During the ritual, several dolphins swam alongside the boats, accompanying the action until its conclusion.
In Greek tradition, Apollo is also the god who can appear in the form of a dolphin — delphis. For the artist, that encounter transformed the dolphins into a symbolic presence: not only real animals, but figures suspended between myth, history, and the Mediterranean landscape.
From a distance, their bodies appear whole and harmonious. Up close, however, the bronze surface reveals engravings, cuts, and signs of malnutrition. The beauty of the form gives way to a more fragile condition: these dolphins become sentinels of the sea, mythical yet vulnerable bodies, marked by the same environment they inhabit.
