Matheus Chiaratti (1988) combines narrative instances from art history to literature, from historical figures to autofiction. With ceramic works that bridge painting and sculpture, Chiaratti also works with photography, audio, embroidery, and poetry, building imaginaries permeated by desire and eroticism in a movement between affections and narratives. The artist’s gestures and the intervals between each of these elements weave unusual bodies that pose themselves as enigmas to be unraveled. It’s in this relation that the literary and seductive potential of his practice lives.

His solo exhibitions include Pau lavrado, Quadra, São Paulo (2022); Fortuna Balnearis, Edicola Radetzky, Milan (2022); Nights Vanitas, Artland, Milan (2022); and Umbigo do desejo, Quadra, Rio de Janeiro (2019). He has participated in group shows such as O beijo no asfalto, Flexa, Rio de Janeiro (2024); Olhe bem as montanhas, Quadra, Rio de Janeiro (2024); Italian postcard, Galleria Il Bisonte, Florence (2024); Regra de três, Gisela Projects and Galeria Estação, São Paulo (2024); Mesmo estando separados, Ateliê397, São Paulo (2023); Vai na fé, Museu de Arte Sacra, São Paulo (2022); and Male nudes: Um salão de 1800 a 2021, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo (2021). His works are part of public collections at Museu São Pedro (Itu, São Paulo) and Casa do Olhar Luiz Sacilotto (Santo André, São Paulo).

C. (Modelo vivo) (2023) is a free painting exercise created during a live model session. In quick strokes, the body appears as a pale image amidst a haze—an instant, fleeting impression. The face is not visible; only the bare torso and the suggestion of an extended arm reaching beyond the frame, as if seeking something outside. The work is simultaneously a drawing exercise in paint and an exercise in memory, affection, and desire. It was featured in the exhibition O Beijo no Asfalto, organized by Flexa and Tropigalpão in Rio de Janeiro (2023), curated by Ulisses Carrilho.