The Elkon Gallery in association with Isabella Del FrateRayburn is pleased to announce its first exhibition with Italian artist Matteo Montani-- Once Upon A Time Life, Again – a series of new paintings by the artist.
From the onset of his career, Montani’s work has been associated with the use of large sheets of sandpaper. The pictorial architecture of the paintings produced with this unique technique is mostly organized according to a system of signals and information, where the fluid color masses of inconstant lines and density convey a sense of transcendence, almost a journey. There are unlimited horizons and relentless landslips in each of his landscapes. The perceptive impact of many of Montani’s works is associated with a feeling of solemnity, seriousness and power, where the boundaries between the real landscape and the mental landscape are blurred.
The exhibition at the Elkon Gallery presents a series of new works never shown before. The paintings are the result of several years of work on wooden tables used by the artist as a working surface. These tables bear the traces, marks, stains and signs left by sandpaper sheets in the course of the creative process of his paintings. The autogenous nature of a painting that Montani believes in, combined with his ongoing desire to find a complicity with the eye of the viewer, triggered his decision to push the working table experience further and develop the existing signs and shapes on the tables. In the process, spontaneous figures emerged, while the artist decided that others would remain hidden. This way of proceeding has produced a complex and rich action field in which the mysterious presence of human life is palpable, again.
Matteo Montani was born in Rome, Italy, in 1972. On completion of his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of Urbino and Rome, he began to exhibit in some of the most recognized Italian galleries, most notably Fabio Sargentini’s L’Attico and The Marilena Bonomo Gallery. Montani’s works have been exhibited in important art institutions such as La Quadriennale in Rome, The Museum am Dom in Wurzburg, Germany, as well as others. His works have been acquired by both private and public collections, amongst which The Novartis Corporation, USA, The National Gallery of Modern Art of Rome, Italy and the Wurzburg Cathedral in Germany are included.
The exhibition will open on April 14th and remain on view until June 17th, 2016. A reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, April 14th, 6-8pm.
For additional information please contact the gallery on 212.535.3940 or by email at elkongallery@earthlink.net.