Underlying pretty much all of the work is, he says, “a sense of man’s uncanny ability to fuck something up”. And behind the paintings in this show is his personal interpretation of a crazy historical narrative from the nineteenth century.

In 1827, in a bid to increase tourism in the twin-towns of Niagara Falls – Canadian and American Niagara Falls - local hotel owners planned the first Niagara Falls daredevil stunt on record. They bought an old and condemned lake schooner called ‘Michigan’, and widely advertised that it would be sent over the Horseshoe Falls on September 8th.

"The pirate Michigan with a cargo of ferocious wild animals will pass the great rapids and falls of Niagara - 8th September 1827 at 6 o'clock. [She will] carry a cargo of Living Animals of the Forest, which surround the upper lakes, through the white tossing and deep rolling rapids of Niagara and down its great precipice, into the basin below".

Tailor’s dummies were tied to the deck for authenticity, and a buffalo, two small bears, two raccoons, a dog and a goose were put on board. Watched by a crowd estimated at 10,000, various dignitaries were invited on board to examine the cargo. But, when finally, the Michigan was set towards the waterfall, she began, rapidly, to take on water. The two bears broke free and swam to safety, but the other animals were caged or tied to the ship, and died in the brutal spectacle. The goose survived, but was subsequently caught and cooked for its trouble.

“All in all, it is a very typical American story: the-biggest-craziest-even-if-its-not-right-we'll-do-it-anyway kind of spectacle that my country still endorses and gravitates towards”, says Montuori. “Granted, things are a little different nowadays, but it's largely the same, with different scenarios.”

He uncovered this story last year, during what was a particularly brutal winter - in terms of both the meteorological and the economical storms, which were raging against the USA. He says that people fell in to a grey mood; and anger festered. They grew aggressive and unforgiving as they sought reasons for the spectacular failures.

Montuori’s exhibition comprises an extraordinary body of History paintings. We will include the enormous ‘Niagara’ painting, alongside a series of scarecrow paintings. Montuori never peoples his canvases - the scarecrows are an interesting figurative representation of Man in a frightened capacity).