10 Questions with Salvatore Mauro
Salvatore Mauro is an award-winning artist born in Syracuse and resident in Italy. His works have been widely exhibited nationally, as well as in the UK. Salvatore Mauro's art opens in two directions. The first is a more performative expression, where the central element is the interaction with the viewer, of which he becomes the protagonist. The other concerns sculptural elements, which he calls "lightboxes and constellations", which are created to last over time.
The best significant acquisition of the work proposed by Salvatore Mauro is some expressive forms that originated in the 1960s, in particular, that type of object-oriented works with a high technological content as in the conceptual by Joseph Kosuth, Dan Flavin, Maurizio Nannucci, but with a procedural slant close to Merz and a neo-futurist idea a la Marco Lodoli, a reference that identifies a Mediterranean linguistic root.
Salvatore Mauro portrait
ARTIST STATEMENT
"In my Costell-Azioni, the texture has become my central technique. I had already experienced it in the past through photography, but in this case, I turned rather to the language of design, so I chose nets of various shapes and sizes and used them to create bottoms and layers that reach up to twelve levels. The pictorial supports I use are multilayer circles of different sizes; these circles represent planets and stars that will create a large work that will take the name of "Costell Azioni."
What interests me about this installation is its material aspect, the pictorial texture that is somewhat reminiscent of photographic pixels. At first glance, the image is not noticed, as if it were a blurry photo or too zoomed in, and it takes a little to bring it into focus. These circles are arranged in such a way as to compose an imaginary constellation after a hypothetical big bang. From this work, a performance was born that accompanies the birth of these planets and stars. I tried to simulate the practice of the astronomer who chooses its name when he discovers a new star" - Salvatore Mauro
La liberta è a noi, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on wood, 2019. Salvatore Mauro©
INTERVIEW
Could you tell us a little more about your background?
I define myself as an anomalous artist because I am also a curator. My path has its roots in academic studies: I graduated in sociology in Rome with a thesis on cultural anthropology and a particular focus on contemporary art. From that moment on, I exhibited in many Italian museums, also having the good fortune of being approached by curators and critics who were budding at that time. Today are people of some importance, renowned in the sector. Rome was the city where I took my first steps as an artist, where I lived for 18 years. Initially, I approached applied painting and installations that allowed me to create numerous sets and establish a collaboration with the Vascello theater, which was under the artistic direction of Manuela Kustermann and Giancarlo Nanni. Later, with my wife Anna Milano, an artist, we created BOX Art Festival, which reached its 4th edition in various museums. And I went on to cover the role of deputy director at the Vascello Theater in Rome, approaching all the performative and theatrical currents. I also had editorial experience with the magazine Next Exit and Sud Style.
How did you start experimenting with art?
From painting, I pushed more and more towards contemporary languages starting to work with collage, installations and exploring performance, sound, and digital photography. Among the most particular works that I have created, there is certainly the lightbox, a container of light, water, sound, and photography immersed in water. Initially, these very conceptual works were not understood and appreciated, but in recent years, after winning the Terna award in 2014, these works have been re-evaluated. In Naples, I created an installation on the Divine Comedy and the circle of Paradise so that I was able to analyze the concept of religion between the sacred and the profane, reflecting on where man chooses to be between good and evil, light and dark. I have been forced to stop my artistic production made of lightboxes with my return to Syracuse for five years now. Later I was invited by Emergence Festival, and there I created an installation capable of communicating with the pre-existing architecture and reflected my performative and street art character. The installation, entitled Costell'Azione, interacts with the viewer, who thus becomes part of the work. Furthermore, being a sociologist, I firmly believe in giving anyone the opportunity to have a voice and express their ideas.
Mars, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on canvas, 2020. Salvatore Mauro©
Moon, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on canvas, 2020. Salvatore Mauro©
What is your personal aim as an artist?
My project "Costell Azione" might seem like an attempt at politics. Even if the border is very thin, it is absolutely not the case. I aim to show others that, despite the democratic dictatorship in which we live, there is always a way to express oneself and opinions. This method is the artistic action.
You quote many inspirations for your work, from Joseph Kosuth and Dan Flavin to Italian artists such as Mario Merz and Marco Lodoli. - How would you define yourself as an artist?
My particular attention is toward linguistic experimentation and the use of new image technologies, focusing on the performative character of contemporary art (installations; expanded cinema) and theatrical encroachments. This led me to devote myself to work and research on the light by designing light-boxes with water inside, where I fused three elements of light, photographic image, and liquid. At the same time, I was also pushing myself to installations with neon. For this practice, I have been associated with Merz or Kosuth's likes, which is a great honor for me.
Great - Costell Azione, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on wood, 2019. Salvatore Mauro©
Your "Costell-Azioni" series represents constellations of artworks, circles that you use in larger installations to represent planets and stars. How did you come up with this idea, and what is the message behind these works?
In reality, my Costell-Azioni were born by chance. When the Emergence Festival organizer saw what I created with light and painting, he suggested that I leave the hall of a museum to try to dialogue with the external. At the same time, I was invited by Professor Navarra of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Catania, which is based here in Syracuse, to present, as a sociologist and anthropologist, the first issue of a series of texts that profiled some architects who worked on the border between art and architecture. The series was called Constellations, and the common thread was these personalities' ability to dialogue with the outside world. Hence the idea of recreating an installation capable of communicating with the pre-existing architecture and reflecting my performative character between land art and street art.
What do you see as the strengths of your project, visually or conceptually?
I thought of making my works interact with the environment around me, the external places, what I consider "empty spaces," because unlike the so-called "non-lieu," people and objects cross paths driven by the desire to consume, these do not belong to anyone. I wanted to recombine the "quasi-objects" - those works that for M.Serras have meaning only when there is interaction - with the "hyper objects," in this case, the environments where my interactions take place and that are seen by me as "spaces empty."
Costell Azione #6, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on wood, 2019. Salvatore Mauro©
Costell Azione #5, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on wood, 2019. Salvatore Mauro©
Your works are complex and layered pieces. What is your creative process like?
Texture has become my central technique. I had already experimented with it in the past through photography. Still, in this case, I turned rather to the language of design, so I chose nets of various shapes and sizes and used them to create bottoms and layers reaching up to twelve levels. The pictorial supports I use are multilayer circles of different sizes; these circles represent planets and stars that will create a large work that will take the name of "Costell-Azione."
Where did you get your imagery from? What sources did you use?
I love abstract art like Daniel Buren., which I feel very close to what I do. And I also feel close to a young man that I have been following, Philip Pantone. My work is an extreme between performance and abstract art that also dialogues with the architectural environment. This is why I am very close to the world of street art, and I also had the pleasure of collaborating with Sten and Lex.
But what interests me in my works is the material aspect, the pictorial texture that is somewhat reminiscent of photographic pixels, in fact, at first glance, the image is not noticeable, as if it were a blurry photo, or too zoomed in, and it takes a while to focus it. It is a work of color layering. Usually, I even reach 12 levels to create a single work.
As for the sources, I follow the astronomer's path who, when he discovers a new star, chooses its name. In this case, in my "Costell Azioni," I let the public decide while interacting with the work. The results are then published on the web with names that also testify to loved ones, and in the end, these names will make up the map of my constellation becoming part of them.
Do you have an essential philosophy that guides you in your creative expression?
Certainly, my interest in the performative aspect of contemporary art and theatrical encroachments. My experience at the Vascello Theater in Rome also greatly influenced me, becoming the director of my works and installation operations and encroaching on land art and street art.
Summer, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on canvas, 2021. Salvatore Mauro©
Autumn, Mixed Media, Spray acrylic on canvas, 2021. Salvatore Mauro©
Throughout your career, you have worked and collaborated with various institutions. What is your most treasured memory?
Surely 2014, when I won the final of the Terna 06 award in the installation section. It was a great experience that put me in comparison with one of Italy's most important prizes and a big sponsor like Terna. The institution, the State Archives of Turin, was marvelous. It was a great satisfaction to also being featured in a catalog with texts by Gianluca Marziani and Cristina Collu, the current director of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, produced by Skira Editori.
What was the art lesson you learned from last year's experience?
It is difficult not to dwell on the fact that we are experiencing an epochal change of habits, conditions, certainties, and an unimaginable economic collapse. This involves companies and those realities that have always been in the condition of the "last wheel of the wagon", like art. During the first lockdown, I wondered what role the artist should have. Maybe to create new exhibition forms as the great Hans Ulrich Obrist did recently?
And so, at the invitation of the SpazioY gallery in Rome, I decided to make my works interact with the environment around me, the external spaces around my home, "empty spaces". Thus were born the "Combine" works, modules that can be recombined in infinite rotations.
After the first lockdown, I hoped that the pandemic was over and restarted my exhibition activities. But that's not the way it went, we're still at home. So I asked myself how to get my works out of the space where I live and make my works more visible. I worked a lot on social media, with stories and posts. I signed up in various portals dedicated to the sale of art - real virtual galleries with lots of interesting feedback, with which it is possible to connect with people from all over the world. My business has intensified. Drawings, collages, postcards of various sizes, and canvases were born, with unpublished works that I have not yet released. Certainly, the forced enclosure saved me from an outside world that is full of questions for our future.
