MICHELE FALANGA. Aeropainting 1925-1937
May 9 @ 18:00 - July 6 @ 12:30
It is with great pleasure that the Gallery Pirra hosts an exhibition dedicated to Michele Falanga (Bagnara Calabra, RC 1865 – Messina 1937), an eclectic artist who was able to interpret central themes of Futurism, such as dynamism and technological progress. His production, still little known to the general public, tells of Mediterranean landscapes with warm colors, sea, wind, islands, volcanoes, rays of the sun in contrast – and in balance – with the square and austere urban architecture, with the darkness torn by flashes of fire, with the speed and acrobatics of airplanes in flight, confirming aeropittura as the maximum expression of Sicilian Futurism. His works are made with poor materials, in particular the pages of newspapers – including La Stampa – used as real supports, on which he painted, and not as collages on canvas or cardboard, as the other Futurists mainly did. This characteristic gives Falanga’s works a unique dimension, because they are at the same time artistic expressions and objective and punctual historical testimonies of the time. Michele Falanga’s works belong to a peculiar individual history and are the result of a multifaceted talent, also expressed in writing. He is, in fact, an artisan entrepreneur who discovers his pictorial inclination in his mature age, encounters and practices aeropittura, but does not participate directly in the Futurist movement – whose first documented Sicilian exhibition dates back to 1927 – he paints for himself, without commercial intentions.
Grateful for the trust placed in us by the heirs – who are carrying out a great work of valorization through the foundation of an association and the publication of catalogs – with this exhibition, which includes about thirty works of various sizes and is the first in a private Gallery, we see a further stage of a journey that will surely lead to the due recognition of this exponent of the early twentieth century Italian art.
Antonino and Daniele Falanga, heirs of Michele Falanga and co-founders of the Cultural Association Flegone, will be present at the inauguration.
Two works by Michele Falanga will be exhibited in the exhibition Mondo Futurista, curated by Giordano Bruno Guerri and Matteo Vanzan, at the Castello di Desenzano del Garda from 4 May to 26 October 2025. Also in 2025, the Teatro Sociale in Como hosted the exhibition Michele Falanga – Aeropittura teatrale. Opere pittoriche e manoscritti, organized by the Cultural Association Flegone. In 2024, the Confcommercio of Lecco sponsored the exhibition Michele Falanga – Aeropittura Futurista. Opere pittoriche e manoscritti dal 1908 al 1937, Palazzo Falck, Lecco.
