Salvatore Falci
| Salvatore Falci | |
|---|---|
 Salvatore Falci.jpg | |
| Born | September 27, 1950 Portoferraio, Italy |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Contemporary art, Relational art |
| Notable work | Sosta 15 minuti (1983), Erba Ponte Sant'Eufemia (1990), Effetto Ghianda (2023) |
| Movement | Gruppo di Piombino |
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Salvatore Falci (born 27 September 1950) is an Italian contemporary artist known for his contributions to relational art and intercultural artistic projects. He is a co-founder of the influential Gruppo di Piombino (Piombino Group), an Italian art collective that gained prominence in the 1980s.
Biography
Born in Portoferraio,[1] Falci moved to Piombino as a young man, where he earned a technical diploma in electronics. He began university studies in engineering, then enrolled in philosophy with an artistic focus at the University of Pisa, interrupting his studies in 1977 and resuming them in 1983.
During the 1980s, he began his artistic research and co-founded the Gruppo di Piombino[2][3] (also known as the Piombino School), a collective that distinguished itself in relational art[4] in Italy.[5] The group initially consisted of Salvatore Falci, Stefano Fontana, Pino Modica, and the militant critic Domenico Nardone, with Cesare Pietroiusti joining later.[6][7]
One of the Gruppo di Piombino's most emblematic works was the 1983 installation Sosta 15 minuti (15-minute Stop), composed of five folding chairs in the three primary colors plus white and black, each accompanied by a bilingual sign reading "Sosta di 15 minuti / 15 minutes stop." The work invited passersby to pause for a brief rest, introducing an unexpected moment of suspension and reflection into the urban environment. Its ambiguity, suspended between functional object and artwork, was reinforced by its unauthorized placement at the Giardini della Biennale in Venice in 1984, in a liminal position between inside and outside the exhibition space.[8] Subsequently, the work was exhibited at the Lascala gallery in Rome.
The experimentation of the Gruppo di Piombino proposed a new vision of art, focused on unconscious gestures and the integration of art into everyday life. According to Renato Barilli, Falci is the group's artist who most deeply explored the theme of the "casual" and ephemeral phenomenon, investigating the relationship between human action and the traces it leaves in space.[5] His works consist of discrete elements installed in public places, designed to collect traces left unconsciously by daily life. A significant example is the series Pavimenti (Floors, 1987), in which simple black structures placed in telephone booths, elevators, and bars collect signs and residues left by people through scratching. In this way, what originates as a functional element transforms itself, elevating everyday life and generating a work of art through a short circuit between object, human action, and space.
In 1990, Falci moved to Milan, where he began working in his studio provided by Sergio Casoli, an important Milanese gallery owner who had supported the Gruppo di Piombino since 1987.[9] That same year, he participated in the 44th Venice Biennale with the work Erba Ponte Sant'Eufemia (Grass Bridge Sant'Eufemia),[10] exhibited in the "Aperto" section, where he experimented with art of active public engagement.[11][12]
Between 1997 and 2001, he co-founded the Oreste project together with Cesare Pietroiusti,[13] an initiative that favored direct dialogue among artists without institutional mediation.[14] The project, which did not produce artworks but organized residencies, conferences, and publications, was presented at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999[15] in the "dAPERTutto" section curated by Harald Szeemann.[16]
In 1998, he was selected for an IASKA artist residency in Perth, Australia, where he explored themes related to cultural incommunicability between Indigenous Australians and Anglo-Saxons.[17]
In 2005, Falci created the installation Memory in Skanderbeg Square, Tirana, Albania, as part of the curatorial project 1.60insurgent space. The work engaged students from the Academy of Fine Arts of Tirana in creating "impermanent maps" based on their personal memories of the city. These mnemonic maps were drawn with chalk on the square's pavement and then traced with water, causing them to fade and exist only temporarily, exploring themes of memory, duration, and the relationship between personal and collective urban experience.[18]
In 2019, Falci's artistic research was documented in the television program Genio e sregolatezza (Genius and Unruliness), directed by Alessandra Galletta and Marco Senaldi for Rai Storia, dedicated to Italian art from the postwar period to the early 2000s, enriched by testimonies from historians, critics, and artists. The documentary presented Falci among the protagonists who contributed to innovating the Italian artistic landscape.[19]
Teaching career
From 1994 to 2019, Falci taught visual arts at the Accademia Carrara of Fine Arts in Bergamo,[20] contributing to the training of numerous generations of artists.[1] Concurrently, from 2000 to 2012, he carried out teaching activities at the Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Brescia. Since 2004, he has also taught methodology and techniques of artistic experimentation at the University of Bergamo.
Artistic projects
Arte e Luogo
In 2005, Falci initiated the intercultural project Arte e Luogo (Art and Place),[1] aimed at fostering encounters between young international researchers in contemporary visual art and local communities through artistic interventions, exhibitions, workshops, and educational laboratories.[21] The project developed through several editions, including one in Cameroon,[22] where Falci supervised training in contemporary art at the Institut de Formation Artistique in Mbalmayo in collaboration with the Libera Accademia di Brescia.[23] The project also involved Brazil and Nepal.
Effetto Ghianda
In 2023, Salvatore Falci presented Effetto Ghianda (Acorn Effect), composed of real acorns treated with the scratching technique,[1] which allowed the revelation of a gold film hidden beneath the surface. The catalog bore the inscription: "Take it with you and become gold." The installation was exhibited at the Villa Croce Museum of Contemporary Art in Genoa[24] and subsequently at the Galleria Monopoli in Milan.[25]
Effetto Ghianda fits into Falci's artistic path within relational art and art as shared experience, reaffirming art's role as a vehicle for cultural and personal transformation.
Major exhibitions
Venice Biennale participations
- 1990: participation with the work Erba Ponte Sant'Eufemia at the 44th Venice Biennale[26]
- 1999: co-organizer of the Oreste project,[27] presented at the 48th Venice Biennale in the "dAPERTutto" section, curated by Harald Szeemann[15]
Selected solo exhibitions
- 2025: Effetto Ghianda, Galleria Monopoli, Milan
- 2019: Conwith, Galleria Casoli-De Luca, Rome
- 2004: Itai doshin in Tirana, National Gallery, Tirana
- 1998: Silent Communication, International Art Space, Kellerberrin, Australia (IASKA artist residency)
- 1991: Ponte S. Eufemia, Galleria Alice, Rome; Moquette e polvere, Galleria Casoli, Milan
- 1989: Colonie a Venezia, Studio Casoli, Milan; Materassi, Galleria Alice, Rome
Selected group exhibitions
- 2023: Visibilia, Villa Croce Museum of Contemporary Art, Genoa
- 2019: L'Oro d'Italia, Galleria Casoli-De Luca, Rome
- 1992: Edge '92, Centro Cultural Puerta de Toledo, Madrid; Tobacco Docks, London
- 1990: Something is happening in Italy, Galleria Lia Rumma, Naples
- 1988: Spunti di giovane arte italiana, Palau Solleric, Madrid
Historical exhibitions with Gruppo di Piombino
- 1991: Storie, Galleria Casoli, Milan / Galleria Alice, Rome
- 1988: Falci, Fontana, Modica, Pietroiusti, Galleria Planita, Rome
- 1987: Falci, Fontana, Modica, Pietroiusti, Internazionale d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan
- 1986: Il Gruppo di Piombino: L'Arte d'Ingannare, Galleria Il Prisma Multimedia, Siena
- 1985: Una nuovissima generazione nell'arte italiana curated by Enrico Crispolti, "Futura", Festa dell'Unità, Siena
- 1984: Sosta 15 minuti, Lascala, Rome (fundamental work of the group)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Falci, Salvatore". Treccani.
- ↑ Christov-Bakargiev, Carolyn (1991). "Someone everywhere". Flash Art (158): 106–109.
- ↑ Pioselli, Alessandra (2015). L'Arte nello spazio urbano. Johan & Levi. Search this book on
- ↑ "Le caratteristiche e gli artisti più celebri dell'arte relazionale". Elle Decor Italia. 2023-08-10. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Renato Barilli, L'arte contemporanea da Cézanne alle ultime tendenze, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2014, p. 343.
- ↑ Meloni, Lucilla (2020). Le ragioni del gruppo: un percorso tra gruppi, collettivi, sigle, comunità nell'arte in Italia dal 1945 al 2000. Postmedia Books. p. 45. Search this book on
- ↑ "Pietroiusti, Cesare". Treccani.
- ↑ Antonacci, Simona (2007). Il gruppo di Piombino. Una storia impertinente - I Parte (Thesis). Viterbo: Università degli Studi della Tuscia. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ↑ "Il Gruppo di Piombino: una storia impertinente - III parte". Retrieved 2025-08-28.
- ↑ Barilli, Renato (2007). Storia dell'arte contemporanea in Italia. Da Canova alle ultime tendenze 1789-2006. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri. ISBN 9788833917337. Search this book on
- ↑ Barilli, Renato (2006). Prima e dopo il 2000. Feltrinelli. pp. 131–133. Search this book on
- ↑ "Erba Ponte Sant'Eufemia - Salvatore Falci". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
- ↑ G. Norese; C. Pietroiusti; S. Falci, eds. (2021). Come spiegare a mia madre che ciò che faccio serve a qualcosa? Progetto Oreste 0 (zero). Independently published. ISBN 979-8747739024. Search this book on
- ↑ "La riscoperta di Oreste, progetto di un'estetica relazionale". Objects Magazine. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Politics and Poetics of Displaying Oreste". Roots Routes. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
- ↑ "Anni '90, scoppia la «la relazione»". Il Manifesto. 2020-07-11. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
- ↑ Snell, Ted (1999). "Wheat-belt residency reaps bountiful crop". The Australian.
- ↑ Romano, Stefano (2025). "Public interventions and urban evolution in Tirana (2005–2025): The case of the 1.60 insurgent space project". POLIS: 191–198.
- ↑ "Genio e Sregolatezza". Lucca Film Festival. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ "Incontro con Salvatore Falci". Accademia Carrara. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
- ↑ "Arte e Luogo". Exibart. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
- ↑ Gandini, Manuela (2013). "Salvatore Falci, Un'accademia in Camerun". Alfabeta2 (aprile): 43. Retrieved 2025-09-24.
- ↑ Bilancio Sociale 2011 (PDF) (Report). COE - Centro Orientamento Educativo. 2011. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
- ↑ Puliafito, Isabella (2023). Visibilia. Come rendere visibile l'invisibile. EFG. ISBN 8885581838. Search this book on
- ↑ "Effetto Ghianda a Milano". Exibart. Retrieved 2025-08-28.
- ↑ "Salvatore Falci - Erba ponte Sant'Eufemia". ASAC - Historical Archive of Contemporary Arts. La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
- ↑ Portinari, Stefania; Stringa, Nico (2020). Storie dell'arte contemporanea 4. Atlante delle Biennali 1 — Storie della Biennale di Venezia. Storie dell'arte contemporanea. Ca' Foscari. p. 440. ISBN 9788869693670. Search this book on
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