Matteo Pugliese Biography
Matteo Pugliese was born in Milan in 1969 and in 1978 he moved to Sardinia, where he lived for the next twelve years. During this period he developed a great passion for drawing and sculpture, creating his first works in clay. After completing his classical studies in Cagliari, he returned to Milan to attend University, graduating in Modern Literature in 1995 with a thesis in Art Criticism.
In 2002 his works were exhibited for the first time in a gallery in Milan, and subsequently a personal exhibition was dedicated to him in Brussels. Today, Matteo Pugliese is one of the most appreciated contemporary Italian sculptors, even internationally, with his works permanently exhibited in important galleries throughout Italy and in major cities around the world, including New York, Hong Kong, London, Antwerp and Lugano .
His sculpture is present in the most important Italian and international art fairs, such as Hong Kong Art Fair, Art Miami, Tefaf Maastricht, Arco Madrid, Fiac Paris and CI Contemporary Istanbul. In 2018, he had a solo exhibition at the Boise Art Museum in Idaho, United States.
Among his most famous works are the "Extra Moenia", tormented and powerful bronze creatures who struggle to free themselves from the walls, men who attempt a painful rebirth through a struggle with a wall-matter that imprisons them; and the "Guardians", statues of corpulent warriors in terracotta or bronze, with the appearance of Assyrians, ancient Egyptians, Indians or samurai, who protect and guarantee inner and existential tranquility. Currently, Matteo Pugliese lives and works in Milan.
