Massimo Nesti’s artistic expression concentrates on various themes: the very first is the pursuit of contact and fusion between man and nature, the metamorphosis that sees man embrace the natural primordial form after going through various stages, and various phases.
On a secondlevel the individual’scontinuousstruggleagainsthisfellowmenpresents a perplexed man, capable of reacting to the messages of the surroundingenvironment, yetstill full of doubts and uncertainties, disconcerted by the events of the outside world.
Thusemerges the individual’shidden desire to questionwhether the road that he istakingis the right one, whetheritisworthfightingall the battles or to the contrarywhether to set hissights on nature and to blend in with itwithoutcausingdamage.
Man, aspresented by the artist, takes on a closely-wovenpath full of obstacles and difficulties of everykind and in which he alwaystends to retracehissteps so asnot to betrayhisconscience and passions.
Materials are moulded and evolve throughellipses and embryonicformsthatdevelopintogestures, hands, bodies and expressions of sufferingthat are perceivedfaintlythrough the composition and whichreflecttoday’s era of violence.
The artisttries hard to instil and to communicate a sort of equilibrium in the battles, in the struggles, in hisstudies of the tones of colour of vegetationwhichrecall the shades of a wood, a hedge, a leaf: itis a hymn to man’s union with nature, to the body in flesh and bloodwhichunites with the tree, to the bloodthatblends with the sap of the branch.
The varioussubjects merge during the battle: the armswhichhurl out the fatalblow with ardour, duringtheirmovementtend to transformthemselvesintobranches, which, in an unusualembrace, display their green foliage with pride.
The artistdescribes in detail the vitalcyclic nature of the individual. Thiscyclicityfollowsitsownlogic of transformation, of change, through the theme of struggle and battlewhich are resolved first and foremost in a chiaroscuro manner, then with the use of the colourtoneswhichgraduallyfadeawayinto the colours of nature, water and earthuntilthey take over completely.
Massimo Nesti’s art presents the rediscovery of a cultural and artistictraditionthathasitsroots in the Italianartistic panorama of the first half of the seventeenthcentury (Seicento).
In the academicterm, in addition to a detailedstudy of the figure, the artistexaminescolour and material in the informallandscape.
Throughhisstudy of nature, he derives the perception of a reality imbued with emotion and feeling.
In subsequentworks, the artistreproduceswithout hesitation the shades and the colours of realismemerging in thoseyears, wherethereis a contrastbetweenCarracci’sacademism and Caravaggio’srealism.
Indeed, hisearlyworks are greatlyinfluenced by the latter and develop the style, the use of warmtones and volumesthat emerge throughradiatingbeams of light. The value of rootsisevident in thisearlyphase, enhancing and sustaining an artisticperiodranging from earlyRenaissance to the revolution of Caravaggio: and here the artistdwells with passion and dedication, studying the art of Merisi and alwaystakingintoconsideration the tradition of the Renaissance in which man rediscoveredhisowndignity and a particular way of thinkingwhichwerenotlinked with theology. A rebirththatinfluencedallhiscapabilities.
The artisticresearch of Massimo Nesti communicates, in a simplemanner, the inneruneasethatisperceived in a society consecrated to technology and modernity.
Althoughitischaracterised by elementsthat take up once again the element of speed and movement, likelines of force, ellipses and vortices, the artisticexpression of the artistdeviatessubstantially from the futuristicconcept of speed.
Futurism, asopposed to traditional culture, launched the challenge of a complete and radical renovation, in the arts, aswellas in social and political life.
Such a changewasconsideredinevitable, and directlylinked to the new reality of the industrial civilisation, dominated by machines, by the myths of speed and progress.
In the works of thisartist, thereis no trueparallel with the thought of the futuristicmovement; to set a framework, he usesgeometricelementssuchasellipses and curveswhichgive a dynamicstructure to the composition.
The differenceisthat, in this case, man ispresented in a continuousstruggle with others and with himself.
Thisis an image whichisoftenrepeated, and transmits a reality, bothpresent and past, of fear, fed by violence.
In theseworks the embryonicevolutionreplaces the coldfuturistic machine and isproposedas a transition, where man passes from a formal stage to a principle of nature.
Increasinglyreflected in the worksis a recurrence of phenomenawhich are closelylinked to man and nature. The battlescenesthatdemonstrate the suffering, the cruelty and the presentcondition, are a meansthatwilllead to better living conditions.
The concept of reality isanalysedhereagainst a background of parallelhistoricalmoments; the variousscenes of battlecompel the mind to dwell on epicmoments of ancientheroes and at the same time on modernrealities and eventswhich take place in the present, with crowds of protagonistsinvolved in violent and agitatedphases.
The paintingshavetheirown narrative, theirownancient and present tale; man isdepicted in motion, in evolution, changingbetween a position of struggle or defence; he wants to change by transportinghimself to different and betterrealities, where he doesnotneed to avoidhisotherfellow men, butratherfinds the spirit to join and become part of them.
In theirmovements, figuresfind a naturaltransformation; theirmainfeaturebecomes a cyclicpath: the pairing of man and nature becomesdominant.
Afterhisphase of struggle, the individualprepareshimself to join the naturalelementssuchas water, fire, rock and earth.
The artist’sresearchmakes a significantstep: the colours of Caravaggio change to expressionisthues; vibrantcolours stand out in naturalelements and communicateman’s union with them.
The embryonicforms mutate, and become water and rock. The figure meets nature, absorbsitsshape and itsspirit, acquiresitsproperties, arriving to the end and the beginning of a cyclewhere the figure dies and isrebornthroughmatter.