Davide Mantovani

I was born in Italy on the Po River Plain. I grew up in this beautiful natural environment between Sabbioneta and Mantova, two small beautiful cities full of art and history in the Italian countryside, whose nature and buildings have had a great influence on my works. To date my art practice is based in London; a city that I love deeply.
My academic background is in architecture but, since a young age, I have always cultivated a passion for painting and drawing by frequenting the studio of a local artist. I learned my painting techniques from private lessons with artists throughout Italy and by observing them at work and mostly, of course; through my own practice, experiments and making mistakes.
I always paint abstract subjects; my works find their form through a stratification process. I superimpose several layers and progressively choose what to hide and what to reveal. I use a mixture of instinct and thought; some layers are created quickly, simply guided by emotions and intuition, then stopping, observing and balancing the composition while I proceed.
I'm very interested in materiality, through the use of textures I want to work on multiple sensorial levels, not only sight but also touch, and I believe that even taste an...