“Lighting Cigarettes for Ghosts”: Francesco Costantino Solo Show at

“Lighting Cigarettes for Ghosts” — Francesco Costantino

From May 9 to July 11, 2026 the historic spaces of MARTHA - Music ART House Academy in Palermo present “Lighting Cigarettes for Ghosts”, a solo exhibition by painter Francesco Costantino (Palermo, 1986), curated by Federico Lupo and Martina Martire.

The show focuses on the artist’s recent oils on paper, grouped into two small-format series titled Mele and Agavi. The painted surfaces evoke twentieth-century sensibilities while exploring archetypal depths and pictorial identities.

The exhibition also stages a dialogue with some works from the 1970s by the artist’s mother, painter Laura Natangelo, creating contrasts and resonances that highlight generational connections and artistic inheritance.

Main themes

• Generational relationship and the reassessment of artistic legacy;
• Memory as a displacing element and painting as a field for identity traversal;
• Pictorial matter and the combinatory possibilities of the surface.

The arrangement of works suggests a narrative of openings and overlays — windows, breaches and nesting boxes — linking alternative presents across the gallery walls. The exhibition title refers to everyday gestures turned into small rituals of relation with image and time.

Practical information

• Dates: 09/05/2026 - 11/07/2026
• Opening: Saturday, May 9 at 18:30
• Venue: MARTHA - Music ART House Academy, Via Siracusa 32, Palermo
• Admission: free, visits by reservation
• Reservations: write to [email protected] or WhatsApp +39 333 100 8512
• Website: marthapalermo.it

Recommended for contemporary art followers, the exhibition provides a concise and intimate view of current painting practices informed by familial legacy and material experimentation.