Matta, Roberto

South American Roberto Matta was an architect, sculptor and painter of surrealism. His unique mixture of European Surrealism and South American Abstract Expressionism quickly made him famous. In 1932, Matta graduated from the Catholic University of Santiago with a degree in architecture and moved to Paris to work in Le Corbusier's studio. During a trip through Madrid, he was introduced to the renowned surrealist Salvador Dalí, who encouraged him to present his unique paintings to André Breton. In 1938, he fled to New York, where he quickly found success in the art scene and exhibited with gallery owner Julien Levy. After some travel, he finally settled in Rome, where he collaborated with Surrealist Fabius von Gugel, among others.
 

His works are filled with fantastic atmospheres that explore the unconscious through the method of automatism. This method was often used in surrealism, trying to proceed without rationality. Without a concept, Roberto Matta usually first spread paint on the canvas with a sponge, letting the resulting shapes guide his subsequent brushwork. With strong colors, the grace of a fluid, dreamlike perspective emerged. With this special, spontaneous technique, a moment of realization occurred when looking at his paintings. Thus, intuitive compositions were created, on the basis of which Matta often surprised himself. He himself was interested in the unknown and worked for his own astonishment.
 

Matta's printmaking is as much a testimony to real life and history as his painting. Whether aquatint, etching, lithograph or silkscreen, Roberto Matta's oeuvre covers a wide spectrum, always creating cosmic landscapes with sharp metamorphosis-like scenes. In each of his works, the world takes on an extraordinary, plausible shape. Using unconventional tools such as wires, metal sponges and knives, Matta developed his own artistic alchemy. Swirling, chaotic perspectives often symbolically address the theme of violence. Explosive landscapes emerge, forms collide, seem to dissolve and flow. After many successful years, Roberto Matta, one of the best-known Chilean artists, died in Rome in 2002 at the age of 91.