Salvo was born Salvatore Mangione in Leonforte, Sicily, in 1947 and lived and worked primarily in Turin until his death in 2015. Solo presentations of his work include the Pinacoteca Agnelli, Turin (2024); Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2021); Museo d’Arte della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, with Alighiero Boetti, Italy (2017); Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (2015); Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin, Italy (2007); Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy (2002); Villa delle Rose, Bologna, Italy (1998); Musée d’Art Contemporain, Nîmes, France (1988); Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (1988); Kunstmuseum Lucerne, Switzerland (1983); Mannheimer Kunstverein, Germany (1977); and the Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany (1977). He also participated in Documenta 5 (1972) and the 1976 and 1988 editions of the Venice Biennale.