Davide La Montagna

Davide La Montagna (1992, Italy) is an artist based in Turin. His research explores love as an ambivalent and transformative force, tracing the tensions between opposites that inhabit the space of relation and desire. Through the use of everyday objects and poetic language, his work unfolds as a process of inquiry and evocation, bringing to light submerged or forgotten narratives often linked to dynamics of violence and power.

During his time at MORPHO, Davide will develop new works exploring the tension between sexual awakening and homosexual desire, drawing inspiration from Jean Genet's Un Chant d'Amour (1950), Cocteau's and Tom of Finland's drawings of sailors and police officers. Engaging with the micropolitics of desire—concept developed by Guattari and Deleuze that examines how personal desires fuel larger social structures—the project investigates how heterosexual intimacy has historically normalized and segregated desire within the private sphere of the bedroom. By drawing on queer artistic lineages, Davide seeks to reclaim erotism as an expansive, collective force capable of unsettling the boundaries between public and private, normative and transgressive.

Davide holds a BFA in Painting from the Albertina Fine Arts Academy in Turin and recently completed an MA at the Dutch Art Institute in Arnhem. He has held solo exhibitions at Archivio Gribaudo and Almanac (Turin) and 10documents (Rome). Recent group exhibitions include Corale (French Place, Milan), The Good Company (IUNO, Rome), and Thinking Songs of Things (Mario Mauroner Contemporary, Vienna). In 2023, together with Deborah Martino, he co-founded Ethereal Society of Poetry (ESP), a platform dedicated to sharing and promoting poetry through readings, conversations, and participatory gatherings.