Mattia Barbieri (Brescia, 1985) is an artist who, through his painting practice, explores an unceasing need for transcendence—a vertical tension that translates into a visionary and complex quest. His works, marked by extraordinary technical mastery, combine narrative and iconographic layers rich in references to art history, tarot, and mysticisms of various origins. This interplay gives rise to a unique visual language, where the sacred nature of the painterly gesture confronts a destructive force that emerges through hammer strokes, incisions, and vibrant colors, leading the artwork to embody an unpredictable mystery. A graduate of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Barbieri has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Among the key milestones in his career are his participation in the Moscow Biennale in 2010 at the Winzavod Contemporary Art Center and his victory in the First Painting Prize at the Lissone Museum in 2012. During Expo Milano 2015, he collaborated with *Progetto Città Ideale*, curating and exhibiting a series of events at Fabbrica del Vapore. He held two solo exhibitions at Pablo’s Birthday Gallery in New York in 2017 and 2019, and in 2020, he won the prestigious Nocivelli Prize. His recent exhibitions include the solo show *Santuario Tropical* at Rizzuto Gallery in Palermo (2022), accompanied by a critical text by Helga Marsala, and *Spaccacuore*, a two-person exhibition with Monica Mazzone curated by Gloria Pasotti at Spazio Contemporanea (2022). In 2024, he is the protagonist of the project *Sostanziale Super Sostanziale*, a two-person exhibition with Monica Mazzone at Studio la Linea Verticale in Bologna, accompanied by a text by Pierluca Nardoni. His works have also been featured in several significant group exhibitions, including *Delle Foreste e delle Acque* (2023) at Dolomiti Contemporanee, *Salon Palermo* at Rizzuto Gallery (2021), and *141, Un Secolo di Disegno in Italia* at Fondazione Del Monte in Bologna (2021). Other notable projects include his collaboration with *Progetto Città Ideale* and participation in artist residencies such as Viafarini in Milan and Dolomiti Contemporanee in Casso. Mattia Barbieri’s practice is rooted in a continuous tension between the human and the transcendent, transforming painting into a space where the unexpected and the sublime coexist. To learn more about his works, feel free to contact us for an appointment.