Alexander Maximiliano Main was born in Paraná (Entre Ríos), Argentina. Main can best be described as a multidisciplinary talent, versatile in both art and science. His works combine disciplines such as sculpture, installation, electrochemistry, and mycology, effectively blurring tradition with experimentation. The artist currently resides and works in Berlin.

Main grew up between Argentina, Chile, and Germany discovering his love for art at a very young age. However he had a very strict religious upbringing, which made his childhood both difficult and special. His desire to become an artist was therefore practically impossible. Eventually, he studied architecture in Santiago de Chile and later media design in Kiel, Germany. He then became a digital nomad, living in many cities, such as Reykjavik and Copenhagen, shifting towards industrial design and working on projects in the USA. Ultimately several psychedelic experiences with psilocybin reawakened his desire to follow his childhood dreams, which were triggered even further during the Covid lockdown. He wanted to prove to himself that the impossible is possible, and he could become the artist he always wanted to be.

Main's art is a dance between the rational and the irrational, grounded in his diverse interests that include biology, chemistry, art, architecture, and philosophy, as well as deep dives into exploring the non-physical realms. But unlike many scholars, Main has a deep urge to create with his own hands. The artist works with immense energy, using the process of creation also as a means to heal and find meaning. Some of his role models include artists like Rodin, da Vinci, William Blake, and great minds like Galileo, Buckminster Fuller, Marcus Aurelius - even the alchemists of the Middle Ages and the ancient Greek sculptors whose names are often lost to time, as well as several contemporary artists and scientists, inventors and engineers.

In Main's work, art, science and spirituality come together for us. Beauty from nature, fungi, plants, the cosmos and the art world flow together in a symphony of his creations. His works speak to us of deep emotions and mystical experiences, revealing another reality beyond our senses. The dance steps of his works unite all human searches in an almost impossible harmony - with the goal of cracking the code of reality and seeing what lies beyond. Main's work is the fruit of his constant research, of testing different processes with different materials. A challenging interplay between precise methodical practices and the irrational and emotionally driven forces of our souls. In his studio abstract thoughts and concepts from his mind and heart become something physical. The harmony and balance in his work is achieved at a high level of consciousness, giving us a glimpse into the flow state of the artist's open mind.

For Main, the act of artistic creation is spiritual, connecting him to the creation of all things in a way that neither science nor philosophy can. The art world has moved on, away from the ancient Greek and Renaissance ideas that a master creator must be a great craftsman. Main still strives for excellence in everything he does, aiming to find balance, a blend of all that is great, past, present and future. It is all part of the timeless all-encompassing dance.

Text by Timon R. Böse, art historian – Berlin, 2024