10 Questions with Matteo Cervone

After graduating in Political Science and specializing in Transactional Analysis, Matteo Cervone (b. Milan, 1966) worked for 25 years in multinational service companies as a behavioral trainer, organizational development project manager, and process specialist. His artistic soul has remained far from everyday life for many years while he is achieving other goals. He began experimenting with photography and material manipulation in 1999. For more than two decades, he improved the fundamentals: lighting techniques, chromatology, project design, materials technology, digital tools, and visual communication. He opened his first location (Photòr Art Studio) in 2011 on the Navigli in the heart of Milan. In 2018, he struck out on his own and has been working on Visual Art ever since. His focus is on the expression of relationships with others and with oneself, expressed through inanimate media. Matteo Cervone is part of that movement of contemporary artists who arrive at art as an expression of mellow age after having found their own 'place in the world' in terms of work, family, and history. The way his work is born, or the experience of art expression, is the basic meaningful brick. It is a path related to self-consciousness about maturity, established meanings, and what tomorrow holds. Live and works in Milan.

matteocervone.it | @matteocervoneartist

Other Worlds | Project Description

The series is a visual journey in time and space. Traffic lights become the main character of an urban stage, from simple coloured lights to real actors in a modern play. Each lantern tells a unique and unexpected story about ourselves and our world. These urban objects, located all over the world, have changed as society has evolved. In a journey of individual and collective stories, images, and shared culture, it is anthropologically transnational. Each image challenges the audience to reflect on the deeper meaning of our actions. The traffic lights change colour according to the emotions we feel, becoming a mirror of our innermost feelings. So what if they were watching us? What would they see? From their high vantage point, they would watch our sometimes hurried and sometimes slow pace, unable to understand our motivations. They would assign the green color to pleasant actions shared by the rest of the community and the red color to passions, contradictory emotions, vices, and taboos. Meanwhile, the yellow color, often the most underestimated signal, represents choice, free will, and change. The photographs and installations show a mirror of our lives. The traffic lights are an ironic but incorruptible 'Jiminy Cricket', sometimes amusing, sometimes thoughtful.

I Dream Of Rain (from the Change series), Digital Photography, 2021 © Matteo Cervone

INTERVIEW

Your career began in behavioral training, organizational development, and process specialization before transitioning to art. How have these professional experiences influenced your creative process and artistic vision?

Being a trainer has certainly been important both for my personal development and for my current artistic activity. Designing courses, preparing visual material (when I started, we used physical slides), presenting in public, and managing the classroom are challenging activities.
There is also a connection in terms of themes: interpersonal relationships, individual improvement, and resilience are central topics in my view of the world. Then and now. One of the things you learn from life as you get older is how resilient you are.
A personal point is gratitude for life. I have had experiences that were possible because I had the opportunity to study and to learn how to study. If you learn how to study, you will be able to face any new challenge that life throws at you.

Free Time (from the Another Perspective series), Digital Photography, 2022 © Matteo Cervone

You started experimenting with photography and material manipulation in 1999 but fully dedicated yourself to visual art in 2018. What inspired this shift, and what did it mean for you?

In my youth, it was essential to build a family and a home to ensure economic independence. Years later, these issues were resolved, and I was able to express myself freely. In the years of preparation, after 1999, I always photographed (and sometimes published) under an alias. I felt like I had a second life, a bit like a secret agent. Finally, in 2018, the change began. The first steps were uncertain, but then I started to receive confirmations from curators and the audience. Last year, 2024, was really a turning point.

What initially drew you to photography? How did your interest spark and develop into the skilled photographer you are today?

I have enjoyed photography since I was a child. At the age of 7, I used a black and white Polaroid; at 10, a Kodak Instamatic, and at 16, a Minox roll film. But then there was a long break due to lack of money: shooting and developing the film was prohibitively expensive. Digital photography has reduced these costs: you can see the image on a PC and figure out what you want to do differently without wasting prints. Then, it took several years to learn the different shooting techniques. I shot everything: portraits and figures, artistic nudes, still lifes, astral photography, underwater photography, macro photography. Then, I realized that my interest was in Fine Art.
Digital Fine Art photography has a long way to go between planning, shooting, and editing. Then, the machine calibration is done for glicèe printing and mounting on forex or di-bond. The benefit is a large print that is stable in colour and brightness over time. Such controlled processes were virtually impossible with the chemical bath printing of the last century.

Imperturbable (from the UnPerfect series), Digital Photography, 2024 © Matteo Cervone

Some Like It Hot (from the Change series), Digital Photography, 2021 © Matteo Cervone

What does photography represent for you? And why did you choose it over other mediums?

Photography allows you to communicate beyond the limits of language. The image can have the power to ignite an emotion, like music or perfume: in an instant, it can transport you to another universe. I can narrate my inner world, share it, and allow other people to see in my pictures parts of themselves that they may have forgotten.
I think there are three worlds in a photograph: the world of the photographer, the world of the subject, and the world of the viewer. As Roland Barthes argues in 'La chambre claire', it is ultimately the viewer who gives meaning to work.

You've dedicated over two decades to mastering photography, lighting, chromatology, and digital tools. How do these technical foundations inform and elevate the conceptual elements of your work?

The painter starts with a blank canvas and adds, stroke by stroke, what he feels. The photographer works the other way round: the world is full of confused, disordered, overlapping information that could end up in the picture. The photographer's task is to select and order what he wants. It is no coincidence that photography and cinema have required the development of complex equipment (studios and stages) and skills (make-up, wardrobe, lighting) to better convey the message.
Fine Art photography is not a documentary, but uses the world to paint a story that is the photographer's intimate reality. The viewer, who enters the story with his emotions, resonates with this reality.

Freeze (from the Change series), Digital Photography, 2021 © Matteo Cervone

Your series Other Worlds reimagines traffic lights as mirrors of society, emotions, and behaviors. How did this concept originate, and what drew you to such a seemingly ordinary urban object?

The focus on traffic lights was born during my years as a counselor when I drove thousands of miles. I imagined that the traffic light under my house was a witness to my moods: it saw me running in the morning when I was late and returning tired in the evening. It saw me enthusiastic on Saturday night and relaxed on Sunday.
The traffic light has evolved over the last 150 years, reflecting the dynamic nature of our time. As urban life has become more complex, traffic lights have also become more complex.
In my photos, the traffic lights represented moods (Another Perspective project), man's conflicted relationship with the environment (Changeproject), the difficult relationship we have with ourselves, and accepting our hidden side (Un-Perfect project). Traffic lights are in contact with us every day. I think they can tell us a lot about our way of living.

In your work, traffic lights take on a symbolic role. Green represents positive shared actions, red evokes passions and contradictions, and yellow signifies choice and change. Which of these "colors" do you find most compelling to explore in your art, and why?

When I was a child, all the traffic lights would flash yellow at night. Those pulsating, hypnotic lights seemed like the breath of the city, a city wrapped in sleep and silence. With adulthood, the yellow light took on another meaning, as you said: that of choice. I decide to go or wait.
The symbolism of the colors came about on its own as if the lights themselves were telling me. I don't know if there's an anthropological or learning element, maybe there are some archetypes linked to the history of lanterns. I find that inpictures, my eye associates emotional elements with certain colors. When I realized this, it was an epiphany, like an art-therapy session. Through my pictures, I discover parts of myself.
So, depending on the period, I explore one color or another more deeply: one of my works in 2019 was all about yellow. My latest project, Un-Perfect, is mainly about little red men.

The idea of traffic lights acting as 'observers' of human behavior is fascinating. How do you hope viewers will engage with this perspective?

During exhibitions, I often stay in a corner and look at the visitors. If someone is in tune with my work, I feel it immediately. And it's a strong feeling. Sometimes, we have a nice chat: some people talk to me about literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and of course, art. Those who stop by usually have something interesting to tell me. More and more, I find that this viewpoint is shared.

Man In The Mirror (triptych), Digital Photography, 2024 © Matteo Cervone

Your artistic journey began later in life, after establishing your 'place in the world,' as you mention in your statement. How has this maturity and life experience shaped your approach to art and the themes you choose to explore?

Art is the ultimate tool for getting to know myself. Somehow, I continue on a path of analysis through the making of my work. It is also threatening: discovering yourself is risky because you do not always find what you want to see. But you only live once, and it is worth following the path and tackling the thorny issues.

Looking ahead, are there any new mediums, concepts, or future projects you're excited to explore? Can you share any upcoming exhibitions or creative endeavors?

From an artistic point of view, I experience mixed works of photography and installation, which I often take to exhibitions. A kind of Ready Made in which real traffic lights pop out of the picture to get even closer. It is an area I explore because I like to get out of the two-dimensional sphere. Speaking about exhibitions, in 2024, I exhibited in Barcelona with Hub/Art in the Poblenou district. It was stimulating, and I would like to return to this vibrant city in the future. There is also an event in 2025 that is close to my heart. The first Italian traffic light was placed in Milan in 1925, exactly100 years ago. I am thinking of a nice centenary celebration. 2025 is going to be a very interesting year!

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.

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