Artist highlight: Maestro

I first encountered Maestro at the Harold Cohen Fellowship exhibition a few weeks ago. We met briefly and started talking; our short conversation was enough to draw me instantly into his universe. His digital collages, marked by sharp urban tension and an almost architectural sense of emotion, captivated me immediately. Later, in conversation with his curator, An, the underlying structure and emotional depth of his work became unmistakably clear.

We crossed paths again last week at Skygolpe’s CTRL_ABSENCE solo show in London. This time, hearing Maestro speak about his process, it was evident that his practice extends far beyond observation. He approaches the contemporary city as a psychological terrain—coded, layered, and profoundly human.

A practice rooted in urban life

Maestro (b. 2005) operates at the intersection of analogue and digital, constructing intricate urban psychoscapes from his own photographic archive. Through heightened contrast, distortion, and precise layering, he reconfigures the familiar into something charged and quietly unsettling. The subway, a recurring presence in his work, functions less as a backdrop and more as a pulse—a structural metaphor for the negotiations between solitude and collective identity.

As An observes, “He has an honesty towards his own emotions that is unusually rare.” Yet this honesty is not raw confession—it is deliberate, structured, and integral to his language. Personal memory slips into digital architecture without ever relinquishing control. Maestro’s vulnerability is intentional, revealing, and deeply human. His work encodes intimate narratives into urban landscapes, capturing the emotional currents running beneath the city’s surface—gestures, overheard conversations, and passing crowds become part of his creative cartography.

Urban psychoscapes

In Maestro’s hands, the city becomes more than a subject; it is a living presence. Bodies, transport systems, signage, and graffiti converge into dense, layered compositions that feel at once familiar and unsettling. He transforms urban spaces into psychological landscapes, preserving the rhythm, intensity, and humanity of lived experience, and carries that energy seamlessly into the digital realm.

Rising quickly in Web3

Maestro’s journey into Web3 reflects the same precision and care evident in his artistic practice. From early experimental releases to integration into platforms like SuperRare and Verse, his trajectory is deliberate rather than hurried. He is now preparing Trigger Warning, a series of six GIFs that stand among his most intimate and emotionally charged works. There are also whispers of projects poised for significant international stages in the near future.

A return home: physical work and new ground

One of the most compelling developments is Maestro’s upcoming work in Poços de Caldas, Brazil. This move is not nostalgic; it is strategic. Poços becomes a site of activation, a space where international attention is deliberately redirected. Working closely with Marcelo Abuchalla—artist and city’s secretary of culture—Maestro will explore new physical interventions, including a large-scale installation that may involve the painted façade of a building.

Looking ahead

This moment marks a pivotal convergence: years of practice, emotional precision, and curatorial dialogue meeting institutional interest and expanded scale. Maestro stands at the threshold of a chapter that feels both inevitable and newly unfolding—an artist shaping the city and allowing the city, in turn, to shape him. Between upcoming NFT releases, physical installations, and ongoing exploration, his instinctive response to urban life has evolved into a conscious, considered practice.

NFT Art Discovery is proud to highlight Maestro’s work and follow what promises to be a compelling and evolving artistic journey.