Fabio Sgroi's 'Is-Land' Captures Pantelleria's Wild Soul in Palermo Exhibition

Fabio Sgroi's exhibition 'Is-Land' at the Real Albergo dei Poveri in Palermo presents sixteen panoramic prints and a large wallpaper documenting Pantelleria's landscape. The show concludes a research residency for the first edition of Take Place Into The Island – N36E11, an annual project by association N38E13 led by Ennio Pellicanò exploring the island's human-nature relationship. Sgroi, a key figure in Sicilian reportage photography since the mid-1980s, uses black-and-white to capture the island's volcanic rock, terraced vineyards, and dammusi structures. His images avoid human presence except for one silhouette, emphasizing instead the marks of cultivation like dry-stone walls and the conical 'giardino pantesco' gardens protecting single citrus trees, as described by agronomist Giuseppe Barbera. The title 'Is-Land' plays on words to signify discovery and belonging. The exhibition references historical texts by Cesare Brandi and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who compared Pantelleria to the moon in a 1980 El País article recalling his 1962 visit during the Apollo moon landing. Sgroi's style is described as essential, metallic, and surgical, yet infused with material porosity and lyricism.