Tonino Mattu is known for his characteristic oil paintings of figures hovering between reality and fiction, executed by using a warm palette dominated by raw or burnt umber and sienna. The Italian artist continuously examines the human figure from a pictorial and socio-historical point of view. Marked by a strong affinity for history, Mattu takes on socio-political issues from the 20th century up to today in the tradition of a wider movement of New European Painting, such as the lingering effects and the collective trauma of the Second World War, colonization, geopolitical conflicts, and a sense of alienation. The source material for Mattu’s works is diverse. Often, the artist takes on archival photographic images and reworks them by removing them from their original context, erasing, fading, or altering certain elements. As a result, a unique tension emerges, using the boundaries and composition lines of the original image as a guideline from which he artistically deviates. 

Tonino Mattu was born in 1979 in Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy, and lives and works in Oristano, Sardinia, Italy. In 2011, Mattu participated in the 54th Venice Biennale at the Italian Pavilion, followed by a second museum show in his birth town Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy. During the coming years, the Italian artist is selected for several important art awards, such as a selection for the Carlo Bonatto Minella Award (2013), a finalist for the Pio Alferano Award (2014), the 1st prize Marchioni Award (2015), and a finalist for the Wells Art Contemporary (2016). Notable exhibitions include the Italian Institute of Culture in Bucharest, Romania; Quartissimo Museum, Quartu Sant’Elena, Italy; Fondazione Sardegna in Cagliari, Italy; Pinacoteca Carlo Contini in Oristano, Italy; Man Museum in Nuoro, Italy; the Antonio Ortiz Echagüe Museum in Atzara, Italy, among others. As a result, Mattu’s works are collected by prestigious private and public collections, including Fondazione Sardegna, Cagliari, Italy; Banca di Sassari, Sassari, Italy; Man Museum, Nuoro, Italy; Vittorio Sgarbi Collection, Italy and Fondazione Pio Alferano, Rome, Italy. Tonino Mattu joined the CAI Gallery program in 2021.