Salvo: Arriving on Time

A visual itinerary through Salvo''s obsessive themes: the passing of time, art history, urban life, color and light

Salvatore Mangione, known as Salvo (1947–2015), is one of the most singular voices of Italian contemporary art, with his paintings still achieving critical and commercial success even a decade after his death. He began as a conceptual artist active in the Arte Povera circle. In 1973, he returned to painting for good—an unconventional, old-fashioned choice for the time. The brightly colored geometric forms that comprise his landscapes and still lifes evoke both the post-Impressionist experimentation of Cézanne and the metaphysical scenes of Giorgio de Chirico. His ceaseless research into light, color and depicting the passage of time gives birth to a mesmerizing vision merging realism with mysticism. Conceived to open up a critical reading of Salvo''s work to an international audience, this comprehensive publication, published with Pinacoteca Agnelli, includes new contributions by an international array of artists, curators and writers.