This brilliant of mid-century avant-garde photography beautifully showcases Leo Matiz’s detachment from rigid documentary realism in favor of pure formal abstraction. The black and white diptych-style pairing strips away the narrative context of the Mexican landscape, forcing the viewer to confront raw geometric structures. By contrasting the unpredictable, fluid ridges carved by natural wind on beach dunes against the strict, repetitive modular layout of weathered clay roof tiles, Matiz engineers a flawless optical rhythm. "Leo Matiz, Arena de la Playa, 77"
Black and white photographs that reveal the various facets and aesthetic searches of the legendary Colombian photographer, recognized as the creator of memorable realistic, abstract and avant-garde images. They turned Leo Matiz into one of the most original and innovative personalities of universal photography in the 20th century.
Acquire this exceptional piece of avant-garde photography by Leo Matiz and add a milestone of 20th-century abstract composition to your collection.
Avant-garde Pphotography - Diptych Arena de la Playa & Techos, Mexico, 1947-1970
"Arena" Medanos de Coro and Techos, Mexico, 1947-1970 (Framed)
From Black & White series
Gelatin silver print, Vintage Photography
Dimensions:
Individual size:
Image size: 7.25 H x 7925 W in.
Frame size: 22 H x 25 W in.
Overall size: 22 H x 50 W in.
One of a Kind
"Arena", Medanos de Coro, 1970
Signed, titled, and dated in ink on verso, "Leo Matiz, Arena, Medanos de Coro, 70" and Stamped from the artist studio.
Printed later 1977
Techos, Mexico, 1947
Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on verso, "Leo Matiz, Techos Mexico, 1947".
Matiz was born in Aracataca, Colombia, in Garcia Márquez's Macondo, in 1917. His photography witnessed the most significant events in our history. Matiz also had important contributions in the fields of advertising, cinema, caricature, and the art market, the latter by founding the first art gallery in Bogotá, in which the work of Fernando Botero was exhibited for the first time. Matiz lived many years in Mexico in a period of incomparable intensity and enthusiasm. The photographer Matiz has been internationally recognized and was decorated by the French government as "Chevalier des Arts et des Letters" in 1995. He also received the "Filo D'Argento Award" in Florence, Italy, and the government of Colombia paid tribute to him in 1988. Matiz died in 1998, but his work will endure for posterity. The work of Leo Matiz is exhibited at the MoMA in New York.
