Italy
Catania, 1974
Salvatore Arancio graduated with a MA Fine Arts Photography from the Royal College of Art (UK). He grew up in Sicily and has lived and worked in London for many years. He has had recent solo and group exhibitions around the world. In addition, Salvatore Arancio was selected to participate in the Biennial of Venice 2017.
The main interest of the artistic practice of Salvatore Arancio lies in the potential of the images. Particularly in how the images and their meaning can be seen and played with symbols, always with the aim of maintaining a certain ambivalence in their work. This is manifested through the use of a range of media such as ceramics, engraving, collage, animation and video. Arancio gives the sensation of a compact and homogeneous concept, regardless of whether his practice is paradoxically composed of contrasting elements. Each facet of his practice contains an intertwined juxtaposition of the roots and the and representation of images: natural and artificial, mineral and vegetable, scientific and mythological. Departing from their literal meaning, through the use of a range of media such as ceramics, etching, collage, animation and video, Arancio creates new juxtapositions that are both beautifully evocative and deeply disquieting, aiming to create a sort of atlas of confusion.
He participated in the following biennials: Esposizione d’Arte Internazionale, La Biennale di Venezia, Venezia, Italy (2017); BI-CITY Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Shenzen, China (2020); Biennale Ceramica – 60° Premio Faenza, MIC, Faenza, Italy (2018); Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale, Icheon, Korea (2017); Manif D’Art 5, The Quebec City Biennal, Quebec, Canada (2010); Prague Biennale 4, Karlin Hall, Prague, Czech Republic (2009).
Among his solo shows we can mention: Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2018); Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland (2016); Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (2015); Ensapc Ygrec, Paris, France (2014); Project 09: Salvatore Arancio, Contemporary Art Society, London, UK (2015); Centre d’art contemporaine La Halle des Bouchers, Vienne, France (2015); Spacex, Exeter, UK (2011); Kaleidoscope Project Space, Milan, Italy (2009).
Among the group shows: Ceramics Now, Galerie Italienne, Paris (2022); Contre Nature, MO.CO, Montpellier, (2022); Point of Equilibrium, MAXXI, L’Aquila (2021); Education Through Art, Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy (2020); Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi, Somerset House, London, UK (2020); Before we vanish, Museo Novecento, Firenze, Italy (2019); Prospettiva Arte Contemporanea, Gallerie d’Italia, Milan, Italy (2019); Is This Planet Earth?, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, UK (2019); Classic Reloaded. Mediterranea, Bardo National Museum, Tunisi, Tunisia (2019); Evolutionary Travels, Foundacion Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2016); The London Open 2015, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2015); Curiosity: Art & the Pleasure of Knowing, de Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich, UK, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, (2014 – 2013); Cyclorama, Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico (2013); Ceci n’est pas du cinéma! Castello di Rivoli – Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin, Italy (2011); SI Sindrome Italiana, Magasin-Centre National d’Art Contemporain de Grenoble, France (2010).
Arancio has been awarded with the Cantica 21 in 2021, the Italian Council Grant in 2018, the Elephant Trust Grant, in 2011, the New York Prize in 2009 and has been selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2006. His works are part of the following institutional and public collections: Maxxi, Roma; MART, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto; Museo Montelupo, Montelupo Fiorentino; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris, France; FRAC-Artothèque, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico; Harris Museum, Preston, UK; Galeries Lafayette Foundation, Paris, France; Fondo di Acquisizione “Giampiero Cantoni” di Fondazione Fiera Milano, Milan, Italy.
Salvatore Arancio is represented by Federica Schiavo Gallery in Rome and Semiose in Paris.
