folgore
Salvatore Pione
16th October – 15th November 2025
Opening 16th October, 18:00 – 20:30
folgore – “lightning” in Italian – carries deep Biblical and literary significance, conjuring up the belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth and that his Second Coming will be globally visible and overwhelmingly powerful – like a lightning bolt stretching from the east to the west (Matthew 24:27) – a sudden meteorological manifestation of divinity that will divide time into “before” and “after.” Carrying similar weight in Italian literature, Dante’s ‘Paradiso’ for example describes lightning that is blinding whilst leaving an indelible trace in memory.
At the heart of Pione’s latest body of work stand two monumental umbrella sculptures in tulip wood, carved and stained entirely by the artist’s hand without a trace of industrial intervention. Bearing witness to both the passage of time and of the body, the laborious act of carving captures the Sicilian belief in craft as both work and offering and becomes a modern form of prayer at the altar of creation.
To be folgorato — “struck by lightning” — is to be both destroyed and illuminated, annihilated and remade. Pione’s umbrellas explore this ambiguity, courting danger as lightning rods whilst promising protection; and offering shelter on the brink of collapse. Like Dante’s lightning, they reveal the paradox that to see clearly may also be blinding.
As metaphors for people, Pione’s forms collapse under their own weight and suggest worldly hopes and dreams that could not be sustained. Presented in London where connection does not always come easily, Pione’s umbrellas are close but far, near yet disconnected, and heavy with longing. In this relational sense, the works may be more hopeful – hopeful that collapse may generate connection, and that two bodies may share shelter from life’s inevitable storms.
Text by Harman Liu
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Salvatore Pione ( born in 1995, Sicily ) graduated from Goldsmiths University London and currently lives and works between London and Sicily. Pione creates multidisciplinary works exploring themes of grotesque theatricality, camp and memory. Deeply inspired by Sicilian customs and traditions, he draws from childhood experiences, incorporating colour, sound, dialect and mythology rooted in Sicilian heritage. These elements blend with a queer narrative, disrupting the hyper-masculine ideals of Catholic Italy by portraying homoerotic scenes with feminized features. This personal process weaves together the past and present, challenging traditional norms through a grotesque lens.
Solo show include:(upcoming) folgore, Lychee One, London (UK) 2025; Ercolina, 2024, General Assembly, London (UK) 2024;
Selected group shows include: LAS INVITES, 2025, LAS, London, UK; VISIONS, 2025, Gallery Rosenfeld, London, UK; PORTALS, 2024, The Royal Over-Seas League, London, UK; DEUS EX MACHINA, 2024, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, London, UK; FOUR-FOLDS, 2024, Lychee One Gallery, London, UK; ON THE FLIP SIDE WAS , 2023, Guts Gallery, London, UK; ARES, 2023, Cromwell Place, London, UK; HEMISPHERES, 2023, AliceBlack Gallery, London, UK; NOSTALGIA, 2022, Exante Studio, Sicily, IT SOLO; NOW INTRODUCING, 2022, Studio West Gallery, London, UK;