Gallery: Matta in the 1950s and 1960s

by Michael Goldstein

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Written by Michael Goldstein for THE ARTISTS FORUM MAGAZINE
Edited by
Amos White V for THE ARTISTS FORUM, INC
Photo:
Michael Goldstein

REVIEWER RATING:
4 out of 5 stars

MATTA IN THE 1950s AND 1960s

NEW YORK, NY (November 8, 2015) Opening Night, November 6, 2015Chile has come up for a good time in the city as the Pace Gallery on 57th street near Columbus Circle recently unveiled their latest exhibit, Matta in the 1950s and 1960s – a collection of works done by the Chilean modern artist Roberto Matta Echauren from Nov 6, 2015–Jan 9, 2016.

The surrealist stretches his work to the four corners of the universe and farther outward as he evokes the childish, the cosmic, and the apocalyptic. The latter feeling has been frozen for the entire world to see in his painting La Question. In the center of a gray world that looks to be a room full of surreal machinery, the red, humanoid figure in the more lays petrified, subjected to what appears to be a machine designed for torture.

Le vin des fleurs(1969) by Roberto Matta

Other works went for a more cosmic feeling. Unlike La Question, Matta’s painting Le vin des fleurs, inducts a sense of awe and the expansion of wonder. A mixture of warm and cool colors support the bizarre imagery, such as the white lines coming together to form a waterfall and the ripples of a lake, and in one instance, a small cluster of stars. Behind the glass is an entirely separate universe that we can only look at from afar.

Then there were Matta’s works done in wax crayon that at first glance appear to be childish but actually stir up some magnificent imagery with their erratic and malformed figures. Part of this accomplishment goes to each work’s excellent command of space, all while displaying environments that appear to be almost psychological clusters of the mind.

At the end of the night, Matta has brought Pace a wide variety of styles that don’t just become objects of affection for their eyes, but their own, living galaxies.

For more information about Roberto Matta, visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta
For more information about the Pace gallery, visit: pacegallery.com and exhibitions/matta-in-the-1950s-and-1960s

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