Elena Monzo

Artist biography

Elena Monzo is an established mid-career artist, who originates from Italy, like other artists such as Aldo Tagliaferro, Paolo Bordino, Davide D'Elia, Edoardo Romagnoli, and Marina Caldari. Elena Monzo was born in 1981.

About Elena Monzo's works

Elena Monzo is a notable figure within the fields of Figuration and Conceptual. Figurative art can merely be understood as art that involves strong references to the real world, or to the human figure. Often considered as the polar opposite of Abstraction, figurative art can nonetheless remain incredibly stimulating and ground-breaking, since it includes a multitude number of possibilities to represent the chosen object or figure. The variety of style in figurative art is immense, and spans across Paul Cézanne’s bathers to Jean-Michel Basquiat’s neo-expressionist paintings.

Defined as a movement in the late 1960s, simultaneously in Europe and America, Conceptual art was significantly influenced by the purity of Minimalism, although it took a step further in defying all pre-existing conceptions one would have about art. Defining Conceptual art can be intricate, as the boundaries are not clearly set, and constantly evolving. The artworks can take the form of almost anything, but the essential idea remains the same - the strategies and concepts behind the art are more important than the finished artwork itself. The conceptual artists use a variety of materials and forms to freely explore the myriad of possibilities through which they want to convey their message. Some of the most critically acclaimed figures of Conceptualism include artists such as Sol LeWitt, Lawrence Weiner and Yoko Ono. French artist Marcel Duchamp is considered to be the forefather of Conceptualism, with his artwork Fontaine, where he controversially tried to blur the boundaries between art and reality.

Galleries and Exhibitions

Elena Monzo is represented and exhibited by two galleries. These are Colossi Arte Contemporanea in Brescia, Italy and Gilda Contemporary Art in Milan, Italy. Elena Monzo most recent exhibition recorded on Artland was at Gilda Contemporary Art in Milan (20 November 2019 until 18 January 2020) with the exhibition Magic Gilda, Magic Winter. Elena Monzo's other most recent exhibitions listed on Artland include the exhibitions; In Absence Of Binary Oppositions (17 January 2020 - 20 February 2020) at Luisa Catucci Gallery in Berlin and Paper Positions Frankfurt (04 September 2019 - 07 September 2019) at Luisa Catucci Gallery in Berlin.

At the moment on Artland, 32 of Elena Monzo's works are available to purchase.

Elena Monzo in private collections

On Artland Elena Monzo's art can be found in the collection of Federica , who for instance also has works by other artists including Philipp Keel, DUSKMANN, and Marie Kølbæk Iversen.

Historical Context of Italy

Italy has been tremendously lush in cultural power since the time of the Romans, this classical period has exerted a significant influence on the cultural growth and distinctiveness of the country. Italy is also the realm of the Renaissance, called 'Rinascita' in Italian, signifying 'rebirth'. The Renaissance has been considered, from the early 1400s, as the first extensive blossoming of cultural sophistication in art, architecture, music, poetry, philosophy and politics since the Middle Ages. During the modern and contemporary period, Italy was tormented by the fascism of Mussolini but has nonetheless endured as an important focal point for artistic expression, spawning movements such as Futurism, Arte Povera and the Minimalism related to the Zero Movement, as well as the expressive painting of the Transavanguardia. Critically acclaimed Italian artists of the twentieth and twenty first centuries include Giorgio Di Chirico, Giacomo Balla, Giorgio Morandi, Alberto Giacometti, Lucio Fontana, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Francesco Clemente and Mimmo Paladino.

Further Biographical Context for Elena Monzo

Elena Monzo was born in 1981 and was predominantly influenced creatively by the 1990s growing up. In the United Kingdom, a group of artists known as the YBAs, or Young British Artists, dominated the artistic culture of the decade. They were a loosely affiliated and diverse group, connected generally by their age and nationality. A number of the members had attended the Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths in London, and were favoured by Charles Saatchi, the ‘super collector’ of art at the time. The most well-known member of YBAs is arguably Damien Hirst, and other members included Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Gavin Turk, Sarah Lucas and Sam Taylor-Johnson (née Sam Taylor-Wood). Through their use of shock tactics and sensationalism, the YBAs garnered a divisive reputation image which was further fuelled by their use of throwaway materials, wild lifestyles and an attitude that was at the same time rebellious and entrepreneurial. The group dominated the British art scene in the 1990s and their group show ‘Sensation’ is now viewed as legendary. The art world was influenced by a number of trends throughout the decade, the divisive, hyper-realistic sculptures of Maurizio Cattelan and the sensitive, conceptual work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres characterised the cultural tone of the era.