Matteo Mandelli
Italian Contemporary Artist
Art that explores the invisible connections between humans, technology and society.
ABOUT
Matteo Mandelli, also known as YOU, explores the invisible connections between humans, technology and society.
Matteo Mandelli is an Italian contemporary multidisciplinary artist whose practice investigates how technology reshapes human relationships, rituals and collective behaviour. Working across installations, performances and sculptural objects, he transforms everyday technologies into experiences that invite participation, reflection and dialogue.
His research unfolds through projects such as The Contact, Machina Sacra, Cyber Carpet, Fioriture Sintetiche, Equilibri Precari, Riarmiamoci… Each body of work explores a different perspective on the relationship between human presence, digital systems and contemporary society.
PROJECTS
The Contact
The Contact transforms discarded screens into living surfaces through a ritual act of fracture. By cutting LCD displays with a grinder, Matteo Mandelli reveals hidden landscapes of light and matter, inviting viewers to look beyond the screen and question their relationship with digital reality.
Machina Sacra
Machina Sacra transforms a traditional religious procession into a contemporary ritual centered on a luminous digital simulacrum. Through community participation, sound, smartphones and a cut LCD screen, the work questions devotion, collective identity and the forms of worship emerging in the age of artificial intelligence.
Cyber Carpet
Cyber Carpet merges Persian carpets with electronic circuits, transforming one of humanity's oldest symbols of connection into a contemporary map of digital networks. Through weaving, recycled technology and AI-assisted design, the project explores the relationship between memory, tradition and the invisible infrastructures of the digital age
Fioriture Sintetiche A project by Sintetica Collective (Matteo Mandelli & Luca Baldocchi).
Synthetic Blooms explores the meeting point between nature and artificial intelligence. Reclaimed flower pots become vessels for digital screens where AI-generated flowers bloom endlessly, questioning the boundaries between natural life, technology and the human desire to preserve what is ephemeral.
Equilibri Precari
Equilibri Precari transforms ordinary supermarket trolleys into unstable sculptural totems. Built from accumulations of everyday objects, each work reflects on consumerism, desire and the fragile balance that sustains contemporary society
ItaGLIA
TAGLIA transforms bicycles and other wheeled vehicles into golden sculptures deprived of their wheels and supported by bricks. The project reflects on the paradox of Italy: a country of extraordinary beauty whose greatest obstacles often arise from within itself.
Cryptotramp
Cryptotramp is a long-term performance in which Matteo Mandelli lived as a homeless person asking only for cryptocurrency instead of money. By introducing a single unexpected element into a familiar scene, the project exposes social indifference and questions how technology reshapes empathy, visibility and human relationships.
From the Sea to the Market
From the Sea to the Market transforms plastic waste collected from the sea into a symbolic fish market, exposing the consequences of human consumption and inviting viewers to confront the environmental impact of everyday choices.
VISUAL ARCHIVE
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PRESS
Selected publications documenting Matteo Mandelli's artistic research.
190+ Publications · 114M+ Potential Audience · 20+ Countries
EXHIBITIONS
Selected exhibitions, fairs, galleries and institutional projects.
46+ Exhibitions · 18+ Cities · 10+ Countries · 100+ Projects
PORTFOLIO
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CONTACTS