LEO MATIZ (1917-1998)
FRIDA KAHLO, DIEGO RIVERA, SIQUEIROS

EXHIBITION DATES:
May 3 - July 7, 2001

WESTWOOD GALLERY NYC presented an outstanding selection of 60 photographs by the most important Colombian photographer of the 20th century, Leo Matiz. He was born in 1917, in the seaside village of Aracataca, Colombia, also known as the mythical "Macondo" of Gabriel García Márquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude." Leo Matiz documented more than 60 years of history in photographs. His work includes photographs of rural and urban landscapes, abstract forms found in architecture and nature, in addition to portraits of well-known individuals in the fields of art and politics and narrative photographs of native Latin Americans. Although Leo Matiz traveled his entire life covering four continents and experiencing the different cultures, people and events, he was never far from his passion for art, which included drawing, painting, writing and foremost photography. WESTWOOD GALLERY NYC was the first U.S. fine art gallery to exhibit the photographic history of Leo Matiz in 2001.

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in front of a wall of Mexican pottery

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo and a child, with a man showing her a bolt of cloth

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican clothing with her hands on her hips

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican clothing with her hands folded

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican clothing with her hands folded, with tree shadows on the wall behind

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo leaning against a car

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo resting her hand on her cheek while wearing flowers in her hair with plants behind her

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican clothing, on steps with a plant next to her

Black & white photograph of Frida Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican clothing with her hand on her cheek

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Leo Matiz documented more than 60 years of history in photographs. His work includes photographs of rural and urban landscapes, abstract forms found in architecture and nature, narrative photographs of native Latin Americans, and portraits of well-known individuals in the fields of art and politics.

A frequent traveler since his teenage years, Matiz started his career as a photographic-reporter working for magazines in Columbia. Then he traveled to Panama, traversed Central America on foot and went on to work in Mexico. Matiz lived in Mexico for approximately ten years from 1940 on and collaborated with numerous artists, such as Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Gabriel Figueroa, on Mexican film projects and David Alfaro Siqueiros on the mural "Cuauhtemoc against the Myth." He also captured the mystique of Frida Kahlo by characterizing her strength and sensitivity in a number of photographs, some taken in the Blue House, others in her daily life.

Black & white close-up photograph of hands holding a sapling

Black & white photograph of a fisherman in a boat throwing a wide net which looks like a flower

Black & white photograph of a South-American person crouched and weaving straw hats

Black & white photograph of a person surrounded by numerous straw hats

Black & white photograph of workers in hard hats, with pipes and equipment

Black & white photograph of a man carrying a bolt of cloth

Black & white close-up photograph of a man wearing a straw hat

Black & white photograph of man wearing straw hats, with moored boats in the background

Black & white photograph of the shadow of a man against a dark doorway and a white wall

Black & white portrait of a young woman looking outside the photograph

Black & white photograph of the director Luis Buñuel

Black & white photograph of painter Marc Chagall painting

Black & white photograph of three men in front of a space with the sign, “Leo Matiz” and exhibition posters

Black & white photograph of a painter David Alfaro Siqueiros posing against a cut tree trunk

Black & white photograph of a nude male model face down on the floor with drapes and steps

Black and white photograph of a painting by Botero of a sitting nude female figure with her hand on her cheek, next to a vase and window

Black and white photograph of four men in suits conversing in front of an exhibition sign

Black and white close-up photograph of a coil of rope

Black and white photograph of several pieces of cut wood leaning against each other like overlapping crosses

Black & white photograph of a dark hallway with brief illuminated portions

Black & white abstracted photograph of a building

Black and white close-up photograph of a spool of rope

In 1948, Matiz moved to New York City and worked as a photo-journalist for Life magazine and the United Nations, documenting an intense conflict in the Middle East. During these assignments he witnessed and photographed assassinations and shootings, while experiencing his own personal pain and suffering. By the end of the 1940s, Leo Matiz was presented the award for Best Photo Journalist of Mexico and was also considered one of the ten best living photographers in the world. Later, Matiz opened the first studio/gallery in Bogotá, Colombia, which soon became an integral part of the bohemian scene for artists, writers and intellectuals. In 1951, Matiz launched the premiere exhibition of paintings by a 19 year old artist, Fernando Botero, and photographed his first paintings, strongly influenced by Pablo Picasso.

Matiz was honored by the French government in 1995 with a Knighthood of Arts and Letters for his extraordinary contribution to the art of photography. Matiz died in 1998 leaving us thousands of images as a contribution to the historic and artistic legacy of photography. In the last decade, there have been numerous international exhibitions of his work, among them a solo exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington D.C. His work is now in the collection of numerous museums and institutions.

LEO MATIZ (1917-1998) FRIDA KAHLO, DIEGO RIVERA, SIQUEIROS

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

LEO MATIZ (1917-1998)
FRIDA KAHLO, DIEGO RIVERA, SIQUEIROS