Investigating Re-Evolvers (1950-54) by Roberto Matta One of the most iconic figures of the 20th century, Roberto Matta has long been understood as a driving force that would radically affect both the direction, and progression of subsequent artistic movements. Through his personal artistic exploration of the human psyche during an era that challenged an outdated sense of humanity, Matta used his practice to translate the unspoken nuances bubbling to the surface. Throughout his life’s work, Roberto Matta aimed to capture and discuss the realities that exist within the mind, prior to any notation of language, or judgement of circumstance, to create visual renderings of what appear as hypnagogic landscapes; realities that are universally felt, but transcend the capabilities of written and spoken words. Matta was a leading influence to the school of New York Abstract Expressionists, emerging when he arrived in the city. Before his move to the United States in 1939, Matta was living and working among the Surrealist group in Paris, where he indulged in subjects of the psyche and dimensionality. Andre Breton took Matta under his wing, and as a result was introduced to the realm of alternative thought in the arts. He was deeply influenced by artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Yves Tanguy, as well as Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, a result from his personal investigation into the art and literature of the Russian Avant-garde. Matta’s analysis of the fourth dimension becomes the backbone of his work, first introduced to the impressionable artist by the treaties of Russian mystic and philosopher, Peter D. Ouspensky. He focused primarily on the theoretical fourth dimension of time, in combination with space and motion, and its existence and effects within the physical bounds of a three-dimensional world. Matta’s oeuvre is his multifaceted approach to truly uncover how, and what this elusive layer adds to the human experience. Arguably most recognized for what he titles ‘psychological morphologies,’ these are his preliminary renderings of what exists in the mind, past accepted and conventional perspectives. Deeply inspired by schools of philosophy, mathematics, relativity, and logic, Matta uses the tools both created, and discovered by humans throughout history as the means in which he cultivates his visual language, in his attempt to make people see what is unable to be seen. In 1944, Matta came to realize that through the inclusion of biomorphic representational figures within his canvases, he could communicate the abstract concepts present within, and created by the human condition. By depersonalizing the human figure, they become iconographic, which allowed viewers to foredge stronger connections to the scenes he was composing. He had long been playing with shapes and spaces, vehicles in his attempts to translate the inner workings of the mind onto a canvas. This introduction of the human as a functional, recognizable shape is a motif that is present within his work ever after. His handling of each figure speaks to the tone of the piece, becoming a malleable facet of his iconography. Roberto Matta’s grand scale works envelope viewers, providing a window into that intangible fourth dimension. Levels of abstraction, in thought, emotion, action, and figuration speak to concepts within the human experience he aimed to both distill, and understand throughout his career. Matta’s recurrent use of ambiguous, hard edge, shapely compositions-void of weight, and strewn across translucent, layered colorscapes- construct microcosms for his peculiar, yet familiar scenes. Roberto Matta Re-Evolvers (Le Couple), 1950-54 oil on canvas 81 ⅞ x 75 inches The graphic composition, Re-Evolvers (1950-54) is emblematic of Roberto Matta’s style at the time of its creation. Grand is scale, Matta presents two figures, bodies and energies entirely intertwined, in a groundless, dismal space void of the effects of weight and gravity seen from above. Abstracted orbs, collapsed polygons echoing the shape of the two, and atmospheric space surround the couple, within this fervent scene. True to his thematic, the artist is presenting viewers with a window, encapsulating the multiplicity of moments, while effectively illustrating a relationship between the feral emotional realities of humans, and the contrived circumstances in which they are forced to exist. As a result of Matta’s extensive research into the fourth dimension, he strove to capture the space that exists within the human mind, before, during, and after the process of thought, where a solidified claim to logical explanation is reached. Re-Evolvers is a dynamic, and touching example of the aesthetic, and theoretical contributions Roberto Matta has made to the rich repertoire of arts in the twentieth century. While many of his colleagues between New York and Europe were aiming to convey different aspects of the fourth dimension, Matta’s use of colorscapes, and striking insertions of biomorphic, humanoid figures show his emphasis and fascination with how the human condition exists within this non-tangible realm of reality. Here, it is important to note that the function of time within this four-dimensional realm does not operate through a conventional understanding. Time can act as a capsule. As relationships, spaces, and realities exist within the bounds of time, there is a referential beginning, and end to events. In Re-Evolvers, and other compositions created after his shift towards figuration in the 1940’s, Matta aims to portray the sentiment of happenings between these two reference points that exist to delineate a moment in time. Re-Evolvers is Matta’s oil-based realization of intimacy, complete with a tinge of calamity but composed with an unmistakable unity through raw emotion. Prior to the creation of this master work, Matta had undergone a tumultuous series of events in his personal life, challenging one’s ability to process death, anger, and deceit, as well as love, and tenderness simultaneously. After relocating to New York, he kept his friendship with fellow artist and mentor, Marcel Duchamp, and forged close relationships with the likes of Robert Motherwell and Arshile Gorky, which sustained a lasting influence among the group. His relationship with Gorky was especially turbulent. While the Armenian abstract- expressionist sustained success from a shift in style after he and Matta met, the affair that would ensue between his wife, Mougouch, and Matta would be a tipping point in the decline of Gorky’s mental health, leading to his ultimate suicide in 1948. The relationship between Mougouch and Gorky was far from stable, but still full of genuine passion and care. After the devastating loss, Matta returned to Europe and was later reunited with Mougouch, a moment in their life that may have influenced Matta’s creation of Re-Evolvers in 1950. Surrealist theologian and figurehead, Andre Breton, worked closely with Matta in Paris before he moved to New York. He repeatedly wrote about his work, emphasizing the paradox between eroticism and destruction within human emotion that exists in the crevices of the psyche. Breton notes this relationship is masterfully illustrated throughout Matta’s body of work, specifically the anxieties that are motivated by death, yet are manifested through sexuality with vigor. This tone is omnipresent, and cannot be overlooked as a major facet within Matta’s weaving of this transcendent scene. The cyclical composition of Re-Evolvers speaks to the charged, cataclysmic wake of a desired relationship between lovers, yet was steeped in infidelity. In this scene, luminous tones of cold, steel blues, blackened greys, punctuated with hints of cobalt construct the space for Matta’s representative couple. The spiraling figures are echoed through collapsed black morphologies that populate the perimeter of their microcosmic vacuum, which simultaneously propel cyclonic movement that create the emotional tone for the composition. This may be Matta’s letter of recognition to a sequence of events that reaped tragedy in the lives of their inner circle. It reflects the darker aspects of love that live in the shadows, and beyond the limitations of contrived reason. Matta’s exploration of the fourth dimension dives into the level of reality affected by the psychological temperament of our society, one that he strove to break throughout this practice. Re-Evolvers exposes a painfully intimate moment in the artist's life, but remains pertinent with a universally endured message. The importance of Re-Evolvers (1950-54) within the body of Matta’s work is insurmountable. This intimate composition reveals much about Roberto Matta, not only through his illustration of personal events, but by the careful handling of his imagery, showing the conscious abstraction in his attempt to reveal the subconscious, a characteristic unique to Matta. The lengthy fact sheet provided below allows the impact of the work to speak for itself. ROBERTO MATTA, Chilean (1911 – 2002) Re-Evolvers (Le Couple), 1950 – 1954 Oil on canvas, 81 ⅞ x 75 inches (207.9 x 190.5 cm.) PROVENANCE Galleria de Cavalino, Venice. Collection Marchini Camia, Milan. Bonomeli Arte, Milan. Arteforum, Inc., Miami. Anon. sale Tajan, Paris, 3 May 1996. Private collection, New York. LITERATURE 20th Century Artists Fleeing Hitler’s Oppression. Exhibition catalogue. Roslyn Harbor, New York: Nassau County Museum of Art, 2001, p. 7. Important Latin American Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures. Auction catalogue. New York: Christie’s, 1996. p. 90-91. Print.. Latin American Art. Auction catalogue. New York: Sotheby’s, 2011. p. 34 – 35, lot 13. Print. Latin Masters. Exhibition catalogue. Roslyn Harbor, New York: Nassau County Museum of Art, 2007. Matta, Important Paintings. Exhibition catalogue. Miami, Florida: Gary Nader Fine Art, 2002. Print. Matta, A Totemic World. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Andrew Crispo Gallery, 1975, n. 2. Print. Matta: A Retrospective. Exhibition catalogue. Bologna, Italy: Museo Civico, 1965. Print. Matta & the Fourth Dimension. Exhibition catalogue, Dmitry Ozerkov, Oksana Salamatina, St.