The Transcendental Point

Matteo Montani, Figure on the Threshold, mixed media on wood

Matteo Montani searches for the in-between, that mystical transcendent space on the edge of form and no form. His art takes us to an intersection of energy and matter where one is just beginning to take shape in the physical while the other is on the verge of transmuting back into the field of infinite possibilities.

Matteo Montani, Meandering Echoes, oil and brass on sandpaper mounted on canvas

Everything is flowing, undulating, moving. It’s as if Montani tapped into the very essence of life, the pulse of All That Is - ebbing, pulsating, constantly inconstant.

Matteo Montani, Fostèr, oil on sandpaper mounted on canvas

Montani’s choice of media is just as exciting as his art. Through the use of gold, copper and aluminum on sandpaper mounted on canvas, he creates landscapes whose relationship with light ensures that they are ever-changing, ever-shifting between possibilities.

Matteo Montani, The Arrival, oil and bronze paint on sandpaper mounted on canvas

Matteo Montani, Parole sulla Montagna, oil on sandpaper mounted on canvas

In the ‘Working Tables” series of works the medium is just that - the paintings grow out of the marks and stains left by sandpaper sheets on wooden tabletops which over the course of several years Montani used as work surfaces.

He allowed some shapes to emerge into mysterious figures while hiding others, so the works seem suspended at a point where creation, destruction, and transformation come together, inviting us into several dimensions at once.

I love all of his works. It was tough deciding on just a few for this post!

Matteo Montani, The Tale of the Riders, mixed media on wood

Matteo Montani (b. 1972, Rome) was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino and Rome and is widely exhibited internationally.

The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GNAM) in Rome acquired one of his experimental works: a sculpture that melts down and becomes a two-dimensional work. Wish I were there to see it! You can read more about Montani on his website:  https://www.matteomontani.com/ArtistStatement