Matteo Callegari’s practice has been deeply informed by his stays in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. As a result of his personal experiences the artist has aligned himself with an understanding of nature which originates simultaneously from surviving native cultures and the historical ancestral past of “advanced” societies, where humans are regarded as one of the many intimately connected parts of a whole. This perspective considers nature as an infinitely complex network of interdependent relationships, composed by an incredible variety of organisms that display intelligent behavior.
This understanding is the basis for a body of work where with a painstakingly painterly approach the artist focuses on animals, chosen for their symbolic and evocative power. They provide both an armature onto which the brushstrokes purposefully accumulate and a grounding element that allows the painting to exist in an affective, psychological and emotional dimension. The animals are not conceived as subjects but rather as potential channels to connect the observer to the primordial energies they represent.
In the words of curator Adriana Blidaru: Through depictions of patterns that occur in nature, the paintings seem to hold a space that opens up between the canvas, a collective consciousness, and the natural world. From the spots of the black panther to water caustics, to the perfect symmetry of butterfly wings and of leaves, vibrant compositions inject the exhibition with a kind of magic that emphasizes the extension of nature into the spirit and that of spirit into nature.
For Matteo Callegari art becomes a powerful instrument for sharing a specific understanding of our being of Nature, and how this very process unfolds into relational elements of reciprocity, care and compassion. In his words: In current times it is important to consider how these experiences generate meaning, how we are all of Nature: Through developing this personal connection we can access a very fundamental part of ourselves and embody a sense of relatedness to each other and our world.