One of the world’s more influential 20th-century artists features at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien. Discover Roberto Matta’s vision, mastery and creativity.
- Retrospective covers all his creative periods
- Remarkable works that echo along the decades
- Runs Feb 24 – Jun 2, 2024
- See also:
On visionaries and tie fighters
(Roberto Matta, Coïgitum, 1972; oil on canvas; 400 x 1000 cm; press photo © Matta Archives)
Once again, I wandered into an exhibition from a position of ignorance. I say this not out of pride (quite the opposite) but to emphasise the impact of Roberto Matta’s paintings.
Just walking through the doors into the first gallery felt like arriving home to a storm of visual pleasure.
Matta (1911-2022) counts as one of the great visionaries of 20th-century art. Although his work itself defies easy categorisation, he proved a key influence, for example, on the post-WWII wave of US artists.
We owe Matta a debt of gratitude, perhaps, for inspiring the New York art scene in particular and thus indirectly blessing Vienna with such exhibitions as Ways of Freedom, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell.
(Portrait of Roberto Matta in front of one of his works, Paris, 1959; press photo © Arnold Newman, Arnold Newman Collection/Getty Images)
Matta’s achievements and creations are far deeper than any analysis I can offer, of course, given his historical role in surrealism etc.
I don’t actually have the vocabulary to describe the works on display in proper artistic terms. Or even the capacity to grasp how such a mind can work. How you can even hang a painting like the 10m-wide Coïgitum, let alone conceive and create it.
Matta’s paintings seem to stem from an imagination riven with colour. Fantastical? Melancholy with a wink? Surrealist? A science fiction novel on canvas? Apocalyptic? Futuristic? Beauty with a beast? See for yourself.
You can feel the influences, such as Matta’s architectural background, sociopolitical opinions and interest in science and space travel. But all synthesised within a unique whole.
(Roberto Matta, Les Témoins de l’univers, 1947-48; oil on canvas, 218,5 x 296 cm; press photo © Matta Archives)
Later works in the exhibition become more figurative but I remained captivated by the earlier surrealist forms, which seem prescient and eerily present in today’s art.
Maybe I’ve watched too much Ridley Scott or George Lucas, but various motifs and designs in some of the paintings seemed familiar from the world of screen entertainment.
In particular, I saw forms that reminded me of Star Wars. Hints of a rebel pilot helmet in the Eros Ludens triptych. Echoes of tie fighters and light sabre training orbs in Être Cible Nous Monde.
But what’s extraordinary about that perception is the dates of the paintings: 1960 and 1958 respectively and many years before Darth Vader first appeared in cinemas. Perhaps Matta’s subliminal influence has gone far beyond the art world to reach galaxies far, far away….
Dates, tickets & tips
Enjoy some visionary inspiration from February 24th to June 2nd, 2024. A ticket for the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien is, essentially, a ticket for the exhibition, since the venue has no permanent displays.
Look for QR codes next to selected works and use your phone to access “soundcomics” written and composed specifically for the paintings.
How to get to Matta
See the main Kunstforum article for travel tips. The Freyung square is quite central.
Address: Freyung 8, 1010 Vienna