Matteo Basilé (1974) was born and lives in Rome. His career begins in the early '90s as one of Europe's first artists merging art and technology. Basilé owns the extraordinary capacity to conciliate opposing ideas such beauty and grotesque, natural and artificial. Exploring the nature of humankind, the artist develops his story in chapters: The Saints are Coming (2007), Thisoriented (2009), Thishumanity (2010), Landing (2012) and UNSEEN (2014): a series of independent transitions where Basilé negotiates his perception of existence. His research consists of an interface between East and West, an interjected dialectic operating as a collision between tradition and modernity, sacred and profane.
Basilé's glossary is not just based on multicultural and timeless signs and values, instead it visually includes the global idiom where dream is no longer the main character of the photograph, as it incarnates a fully recognizable and unlimited narrative. His anti-eroes are a meticulous portraits that bring us back to classical history, but at the same time they transmit the spirit of the current time. Formally, Basilé deletes the antagonism between reality and imaginary, triggering a complex system of emotional sliding doors. Unlike "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters" by Goya, here dream and reason converge in an epiphany where unique and multiple convey into the perfect balance between intellect and sensorial perception. Basilé's poetics is an iconographic universe, the result of a combination between technological mannerism and pictorial surrealism. The oneiric journey of the artist finally guide us towards several levels of comprehension, both sensorial and intellectual, where we suddenly become aware of those aspect of reality that usually hide within ourselves. Therefore, the thorough investigation of Oneself, of the Other and the Elsewhere finally correspond his personal life experience away from his origins, facing both the sense of existence and the context of those confused dynamics around the process of globalization.
In 1999 he exhibited with a solo show at MAN Museo d’Arte della Provincia di Nuoro (Italy).
In 2001 he exhibited in Rome at GNAM Galleria Arte Contemporanea and at MACRO – Museo d’arte contemporanea.
In 2002 he won the New York Prize to young and promising Italian artists, curated by David Friedberg, Columbia University (New York).
Between 2004 and 2006 his solo shows were held at Galerie Reflex (Amsterdam), Galerie Beukers (Rotterdam), Il Ponte Contemporanea (Rome), Sergio Tossi (Florence), GNAM Galleria Arte Contemporanea (Rome).
In 2006 he exhibited on the occasion of “Natura e Metamorfosi” at the Urban Planning Exhibition Center of Shanghai and at the Creative Art Center of Beijing.
In 2007 he took part in “Italia 1980-2007” at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum of Hanoi and in “On the edge of vision - New idioms in Indian & Italian contemporary art” at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta/National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi/National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.
In the same year his solo show “The saints are coming” was held at Galleria Pack (Milan), and “Apparitions” at MART - Museo di Arte moderna e contemporanea (Trento and Rovereto).
In 2008 in Rome he participated at XV Quadriennale at Palazzo delle Esposizioni and he took part in “Experimenta” at Palazzo della Farnesina. In the same year his solo show “The Saints Are Coming”, curated by Valerio Dehò, was held at Villa Bottini (Lucca), and he took part in “Art italienne contemporaine” at Marlborough Galerie (Monaco).
In 2009 he represented Italy in the 53 Biennale of Art (Venice), he presented “THISORIENTED installation” at Guidi&Schoen (Genoa), and then again with the title “THISORIENTED 2nd STAGE” at the BIASA ArtSpace in Bali.
In 2010 his solo show “Thishumanity” was held at Galleria Pack (Milan).
In 2011 were held solo shows “The far near – Thishumanity” at Hubey Provincial Academy of Art Museum, in Cina, and he participated in the 54 Biennale of Art (Venice) to represent the Italian pavilion.
In 2012 he presented the series “Landing” at Guidi&Schoen (Genoa). In the same year his solo show “Thishumanity” was held at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Madrid).
In 2013 he exhibited in a solo show at 53 Art Museum PONTECHU Contemporary Gallery, Guangzhou, China.
