Straight into 7

Matteo Negri was born in S.Donato Milanese (MI) in 1982. After graduating in sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera - Milan in 2003, the artist created numerous installations for exhibitions at art galleries, public spaces and art fairs in Italy and abroad (including Paris and Berlin). His artistic practice uses materials from stone to ceramic, resin and plastic, all in expressive pop colours. The clear split between form and meaning is also something one sees elsewhere in popular culture, where clever marketing can turn even the most ugly or boring products into into curious objects of desire. A series of his artworks starts from a close inspection of the children's building material Lego. In this series, Negri uses Lego as a metaphor for children's inherent desire to build and create their own personalities. The freedom and self-expression Lego appears to offer, is quickly funneled into archetypical, linear forms which are compatible with the geometry of the Lego system. In Negri's work, the system itself is subverted, and self-determination is given the space to play itself out. Matteo Negri currently lives and works in Milan.