Hidebehind

Vera Canevazzi Art Consulting presents "HIDEBEHIND", the second exhibition in augmented reality, dedicated to the Tuscan artist Matteo Giuntini (Livorno, 1977).

The project includes ten paintings specifically realized for the AR exhibition and takes inspiration from the legendary monster located in the forests of North America, to deal with the theme of the hidden: from the artist's pictorial practice, to what is concealed in our imagination.
Hidebehind is literally ‘what hides behind’ which by its very nature always eludes us. It is such a frightening concept that among the popular folklore of the Minnesota and Wisconsin inhabitants, embodies a huge dark monster with feral claws: a creature with the uncommon habit of hiding behind its victims' back, where they are unable to see it. From this legend gets its inspiration Matteo Giuntini, born in 1977, for whom the pictorial transformation by stratification becomes a narrative engine, outlining a history of the ‘hidden’ to be traced, through animal and vegetable labyrinths, where the metamorphoses between beings rise extraordinary bestiaries, accompanied at times by primitive graffiti.

In his works Giuntini makes visible what is normally invisible to others. It is not just a visual question, but a matter of thought. “HIDEBEHIND” shows what lies behind the work, the creative process. An “archeology of the hidden”, strongly desired, calibrated and controlled by the artist, for whom the erasure distorting the painting is never a destructive act, but it consecrates its questioning. Its identity remains in the making process: it is never predictable, never definitive, but accepts the extraordinary spontaneity which is emblematic of an artistic creation.

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Matteo Giuntini,
Meringo, 2021
mixed media on canvas
80 x 100 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Photosynthesis of the Cut Flower, 2021
mixed media on canvas
150 x 100 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Home's Bourgeois Carpet, 2021
mixed media on canvas
50 x 40 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
San Piero, 2021
mixed media on canvas
50 x 40 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Zolletta, 2021
mixed media on canvas
50 x 40 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Firecracker, 2021
mixed media on canvas
50 x 40 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Romoletto, 2021
mixed media on canvas
80 x 100 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Pandora, 2019
mixed media on canvas
120 x 100 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini,
Lupino, 2021
mixed media on canvas
100 x 80 cm
unique

Matteo Giuntini was born in Livorno in 1977. After completing his art studies, he dedicated himself to researching his own language through painting, drawing and illustration. His professional career began in 2005 in Florence, where he has held numerous group and solo exhibitions in galleries and public spaces both in Italy and abroad. He has collaborated with fashion houses and companies: in 2014 he illustrated the historic calendar for Mc Cann World Group and Poste Italiane, while in 2017 the Valentino fashion house commissioned him to create illustrations to be transposed onto their garments. In 2019 he exhibited his solo show "Selva domestica" at the Il Vicolo gallery and the following year, following the "Studio su Bosch" residency programme, he exhibited "Zizzania" at the MACRO museum in Rome. Between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 he took part in the group show "Caos. L'equilibrio della pittura" held at the Zaion Gallery in Biella.