Salvo

Salvatore Mangione (Salvo) was born in Leonforte, in the province of Enna, on May 22, 1947. He spent his childhood in Sicily before moving to Turin. From an early age, he showed a strong talent for drawing, so much so that in 1963 he took part in the 121st Exhibition of the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti. In his youth, he worked on producing copies of works by masters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Fontana, and Chagall.

During a brief stay in Paris, he came into contact with the vibrant cultural atmosphere surrounding the student movements. Upon returning to Turin, he began to associate with emerging artists of the Arte Povera movement, centered around Gian Enzo Sperone’s gallery. In this context, he met and formed connections with key figures such as Alighiero Boetti — with whom he developed a deep friendship — Mario Merz, Gilberto Zorio, and Giuseppe Penone, as well as influential critics like Renato Barilli, Germano Celant, and Achille Bonito Oliva. During these years, Salvo dedicated himself to conceptual art, creating photographic montages, texts, and marble engravings. In 1972, he took part in the prestigious Documenta in Kassel.

The year 1973 marked a turning point in his career: he felt the need to return to painting, rediscovering traditional techniques and developing a personal figurative language. Starting in 1976, he created a series of mythological landscapes populated by knights and archaeological ruins, characterized by an increasingly vibrant and luminous palette.

Between 1982 and 1983, his reputation grew significantly across Europe. In March 1982, the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst in Ghent held a major retrospective of his work. The following year, in April 1983, a selection of his most significant pieces from 1973 was exhibited at the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne, and later, in July, presented to the French public by the Musée Nouveau in Villeurbanne, near Lyon. In 1984, he participated in the Venice Biennale, paving the way for a long series of solo and group exhibitions in leading art venues both in Italy and internationally.

Salvo passed away in Turin on September 12, 2015. His artistic legacy continues to be recognized and celebrated, as demonstrated by the numerous retrospectives dedicated to his work including Arrivare in tempo, held at the Pinacoteca Agnelli in 2024.