Bio

Born in Rome in 1953, Salvatore Puglia undertook his academic training in the field of history. After years of research in that discipline, he began exhibiting his installations in 1985. Over the last 25 years, his artistic investigations have focused on the documentary sources of images. “On my visits to libraries or archives, I happen upon an image that strikes me for no apparent reason”. Puglia regards historical traces as material to be transformed, and thus takes as his starting point images “stolen” from the past, which he then reproduces, playing with the transparency and layering of the materials used. In doing so, he transforms their meaning and interpretation. Puglia’s writings and art works have been published in numerous periodicals (Quaderni storici, Détail, Linea d’ombra, Revue de Littérature Générale, Vacarme, Lo sciacallo, Mediamatic, Issues in Contemporary Culture and Aesthetics, Any). In 1999, he edited the publication Via dalle immagini / Leaving Pictures (Menabo, Salerno). He has also curated exhibitions such as Iconografie transitory (Rome, 1999), and Memoria e storia (Naples, 2001). Salvatore Puglia currently lives and works in Nîmes, France.

Individual shows (*  Catalogue)

1985  Falsapartenza, Galerie ADEAS, Strasburg

1987  A sea-change, Centro Ellisse, Naples

1988  Ash-boxes, Galerie FNAC, Strasburg; Galerie Escapade, Paris

1990  Small Talks, Instituto Cultural de Macau, Macau *; 313. Kein Marternbild. Institut culturel français, Naples

1992  Leçons d’anatomie, Galerie FNAC, Paris *; Museo, Galerie Alternance, Strasburg *

1993  Par les yeux du langage, Atelier du chocolat, Marseille *; Aschenglorie, Lo Studio, Rome;
Über die Schädelnerven, Galerie Alternance, Strasburg

1994  Figure humaine, Espace Lézard, Colmar; Hortus deliciarum, Le Parvi, Paris
Music on Bones, Galeria 21, Sankt Petersburg; Actes, Tribunal administratif, Strasburg

1995  Abstracts of Anamnesis, Onassis Center, New York *; Histoire de l’oeil, Lo Studio, Rome *;
L’image de l’autre, Galerie Artem, Quimper, France *; Trönur, Galerie Alternance, Strasburg

1996  Still Lives, Lo Studio, Rome *

1997  Kópeskönyvek , Vizivarosi Galeria, Budapest; Iconostasis, Petit atelier, Paris

1998  3bisF, Aix en Provence; Centre d’Art Albert Chanot, Clamart, France;
Stationen, Palais Yalta, Francfort *

1999  Iconografie transitorie, Lo Studio, Rome*; Bilder, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna*;
Deutsche Menschen, Maison Heinrich Heine, Paris

2000 Project: Personal monuments, Overgaden, Copenhagen; A Parachute, Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht

2001  Museum d’histoire industrielle, Sainte Marie aux Mines, France

2003  La philosophie dans le boudoir, 3A, Rome ;Sei lezioni di panneggio, Galleria Del Borgo, Rome*

2004  Six leçons de drapé, Moments d’art, Paris; Filmini, Borgotsunami, Rome;Antiquarium, Galleria Del Borgo, Rome

2005  Inventarium, Fnac Montparnasse, Paris*

2006  Futuro postumo, Fortezza di Montepulciano, Italy; Quattro pose statuarie, Lo Studio, Rome*

2007  Travaux 2001-2007, atelier Burger, Sainte Marie aux Mines

2008  Ex voto, Galerie Atypic, Toulouse

2009  Time drip, galleria s.t., Rome; L’Illustrazione Italiana, galerie EOF, Paris

2010  Identifications, galerie Sit down, Paris

Group shows

1987  Masques d’artistes, Salons de la Malmaison, Nice
1989  Délire de livres, Centre culturel, Boulogne-Billancourt
1993  Im Licht der Schatten, Siegburg, R.F.A.
Une autre mémoire, Mai de la Photo, Reims
1994  Ecrit matière d’artistes, Digne, France
1995  Contretemps, Galerie Kiron, Paris
Printemps de Cahors, Cahors, France
Seconda Triennale di fotografia creativa, Jyväskylä, Finland
1996  Biennale, Sankt Petersburg
Mois Off de la Photo, Paris
1997  The Shadow, Magyar Fotográfiai Múzeum, Kecskémet, Ungary
Groupe Novembre, Artsenal II, Paris
1999  L’image en mémoire, Maison des Arts, Bordeaux
Groupe Novembre, Artsenal I, Paris
2000 Models of resistance, Overgaden, Copenhagen
Fotoplastiken, Galerie im Heppächer, Esslingen, RFA
2001  The air palpably thickens…, Hedda, Maastricht
2002  La fotografia fra storia e poesia, Galleria Le stelline, Milano
2006  Une autre photographie…, Château de Saint Ouen, France
Traversée d’art, Saint-Ouen
Déjà, Espaces Commines, Paris
2007  Intrecci, Castello normanno, Acicastello, Sicily
La trasparenza, L’impronta, Rome
Dix ans de photographie plasticienne, Galerie 89, Paris
2008  Attesa, Galerie Frédéric Moisan, Paris
La chute ou la lutte, Kaplan’s Project, Naples
2009  Paris-Séoul, groupe Novembre, Seoul

Curatorial works

Via dalle immagini – Leaving Pictures, Rome 1999
Memoria e storia. La rappresentazione dello sterminio degli ebrei, Naples 2001
Promemoria, palazzo Lercari, Taggia (Italy), 2005

Site-specific installations

Laralia, Dale i Sunnfjord, Norway, 1999
La storia, Albergo dei poveri, Naples 2001
The Conqueror Worm, Teatro Festival, Parma 2001
Arredamento, Albergo dei poveri, Naples 2002
La preoccupazione del padre di famiglia, Festival di Malborghetto, 2004
Glances across Europe, twelve plaques, 2002-04
Promemoria, palazzo Lercari, Taggia (Italy), 2005
Postcard 02-03, installation, festival Esterni, Terni (Italy), 2006

Public collections

Galeries Photo FNAC, Paris
Alvar Aalto Museo, Jyväskylä, Finland
Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, Paris
Hôtel-Dieu, Paris

Residencies

1999: Nordisk Kunstnarsenter, Dale i Sunnfjord, Norway
2000-2001: Jan Van Eyck Academy, Maastricht, Netherlands
2005-2006: Mains d’oeuvres, Saint-Ouen, France