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.