MATtam 90
Manto Arte Temporanea | Temporary Art Manto
short exhibitions in found spaces
Sala Attilio Regolo del Giardino Segreto | Palazzo Te | Mantua
Tommaso Canessa
How to strip an idea down to the bone
Sunday November 6th 2026
only between 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM
How to strip an idea down to the bone should be understood as a reflection on a process – it is, in fact, the act of laying bare the raw essence of the desire that drives it: stripping away all superstructures to delve into the very heart of historical works and universal themes. In this way, every painting – sometimes almost imperceptibly – takes shape as a fragment of personal memory, one capable of being influenced and enriched by what has come before. Viewed through a contemporary sensibility, the past is not something to be retrieved merely as an artifact to be cited, but rather as a language that remains vital and accessible. "Reducing an idea to a bone" is not an act of simplification; it is a quest for the essential substance that endures – that persists – and which, through a fragment or a detail, transforms into a new form of narrative and memory.
Tommaso Canessa was born in Florence in 1999 and lives and works in Milan. In 2023, he completed a three-year undergraduate degree in Painting at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, where he will also earn a two-year master's degree in Painting in 2025. He has participated in several group exhibitions, including "L'intimo segreto del mondo là fuori," curated by Alberto Ceresoli at Spazio Fase, Bergamo (IT) in 2024, and "Vizi di Forma," curated by Tea Burgisser at Carlo.Ne, Villa Luzi, Chiaravalle (IT) in 2025.
"Through the imagination, the sign embraces the mystery that dwells within the essence, then narrates and defines it as an imperishable imprint." Donata Negrini
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