MICHELE CEA'S ARTISTIC CAREER DEVELOPS IN PARALLEL WITH HIS PERSONAL CHOICE TO DEDICATE HIMSELF TO PHILOSOPHICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES, WHICH HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCED HIS ARTISTIC ACTIVITY. MICHELE CAN BE DEFINED A CONCEPTUAL ARTIST, PRECISELY BECAUSE THE GOAL OF HIS ARTISTIC ACTIVITY IS TO ACHIEVE A SORT OF CLARIFICATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE INDIVIDUAL. CONCEPTUAL ART BEGINS FROM A DESIRE TO OVERCOME AESTHETICS IN ORDER TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONCEPT OR IDEA ITSELF. PRECISELY AS A MOMENT OF ARTISTIC RUPTURE, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RELEVANT TO ALL THOSE ELEMENTS THAT CHARACTERIZE THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTISTIC TRENDS, SUCH AS PERSPECTIVE, FORM, AND ALL THE CONSTRAINTS THAT CAN AT TIMES CHARACTERIZE THEM. MICHELE CEA THINKS OF THE SUPPORT AS A POSSIBILITY, A MEDIUM THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY HAVE SPATIAL LIMITS; IN FACT, HIS CHOICE TO ALSO WORK ON THE BACK OF THE CANVAS IS CLEAR. CONCEPTUAL ART USUALLY FOCUSES ON THE EXPRESSION OF THE IDEA, NEGLECTING THE AESTHETIC OUTCOME; BUT CEA, ON THE OTHER HAND, DOESN'T EXCLUDE IT, GIVING VOICE TO WHAT HE HIMSELF HAS DEFINED "SCREAMS," IN REFERENCE TO HIS WORKS—SCREAMS THAT ARE EXPLOSIVE BUT AT TIMES PERHAPS ALSO RETAINED AND SILENT. THE PRECARIOUSNESS OF HUMAN BEINGS, OF THE INDIVIDUAL, MAKES THEM ALMOST AT THE MERCY OF THEIR OWN EXISTENCE, BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAOS, HERE ARE THREADS THAT INTERSECT AND TWIST EACH OTHER, ABLE TO HELP MAN, TO GIVE HIM THAT SECURITY THAT IS OFTEN MISSING AND THAT CAUSES AN ALIENATING VOID AND MAKES ONE FEEL LOST. THE USE OF THREADS THAT SOMEHOW SURROUND THE CANVAS OR CROSS IT, CREATING ALMOST A NETWORK, COULD, IN MY OPINION, ALSO BE INTERPRETED AS A MEANS OF "HOLDING" IN ORDER TO PREVENT GETTING LOST. BUT NOT ONLY THAT, BETWEEN THE THREADS THERE MAY ALSO EXIST SPACES, TEARS, PLACES OF LOSS, OF VOID, SYNONYMOUS WITH UNCERTAINTY, DUE PRECISELY TO THE LACK OF STABILITY OF THE CONTEMPORARY INDIVIDUAL, BOTH IN RELATION TO HIMSELF AND TO THE SURROUNDING REALITY, BUT PERHAPS ALSO, ACCORDING TO A MORE OPTIMISTIC VISION, THE POSSIBILITY OF REACHING THE INFINITE, OF THE IMPORTANCE AND RECOGNITION THIS CAN ASSUME. IT IS PRECISELY THIS ATTENTION TOWARDS MAN THAT HAS ENABLED MICHELE CEA TO JOIN THE METATHEISM, A NEW ARTISTIC TREND THAT FOCUSES ON MAN AS AN INDIVIDUAL, ON HIS ABILITIES AND INTUITIONS. ART, IN THIS SENSE, IS A GUIDING TOOL ALONG THE DIFFICULT PATH THAT CONTEMPORARY MAN MUST FACE, IN ORDER TO GO BEYOND THE SURFACE AND EVERYTHING IMPOSED AS AN AXIOM. GOING BEYOND THE SURFACE, INTO SPACE, WHICH FOR MICHELE CAN ALSO MEAN A CANVAS WITH WOODEN ELEMENTS DEVELOPING FROM IT, ALMOST AS A CANVAS-SCULPTURE EXPANDING INTO SPACE, AN ELEMENT THE ARTIST EVIDENTLY DOESN'T FEAR, BUT, INDEED, EXPLORES. MICHELE CEA BELONGS TO THAT CLOSE CIRCLE OF ARTISTS WHO HAVE stumbled upon ART AND MADE IT A REASON FOR LIVING, EVEN AT THE COST OF THEIR LIVES, DISRUPTING PRE-ESTABLISHED AND CONVENTIONAL PATTERNS, WITHOUT ANY FEAR, BUT GUIDED BY THE CONTINUOUS DISCOVERY OF WHAT COULD BE. ART, AT FINAL TIMES, IS ALSO THAT WHICH IS STILL UNKNOWN, CONSTANT RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY; IT REQUIRES A PREDISPOSITION TO LISTEN, AN ABILITY TO LOOK BEYOND. MICHELE'S WORKS REQUIRE PRECISELY THIS PREDISPOSITION, IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE INSPIRATION THAT RESIDES WITHIN THEM, THE WILL OF AN ARTIST CONTINUOUSLY RESEARCHING, PERHAPS EVEN OF HIMSELF. THERE CAN NEVER BE UNIQUENESS, ALSO BECAUSE, IF EVERYTHING WERE PRE-ESTABLISHED, THERE COULD NOT EVEN BE RESEARCH. MICHELE'S ARTISTIC LIFE, BUT NOT ONLY HIS ARTISTIC LIFE, CAN CERTAINLY BE DEFINED AS A JOURNEY, A JOURNEY THAT, CONSCIOUSLY, WOULD HAVE COME TO AN END. BUT CAN THIS METAPHORICAL JOURNEY REALLY BE SAID TO BE COMPLETED? The message "I'LL BE BACK SOON" on the back of one of Michele's canvases, so clear, explicit, and lapidary, could be the emblem of an artistic and existential journey that will perhaps never end. It is also a further emblem of the fact that a work of art persists over time, can become ETERNAL, and lead to various possibilities.

MICHELE CHOSE ART; HE EMPLOYED IT AS AN ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT LOSS OF HIMSELF. HE CHOSE IT ENTIRELY, BECAUSE IT CHOOSED HIM. NOT ALL ARTISTS, OR SUPPOSED ARTISTS, CAN CLAIM THAT ART CHOSEN THEM AND, THEREFORE, MADE IT THE CENTERPIECE OF THEIR EXISTENCE; WHEN THIS HAPPENS, IT'S ALMOST A MIRACLE, AN EXCEPTION.