The 56th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia homages one of the protagonist of the XX century art: Robert Sebastian Matta. Included among the official Collateral Events of the 56th International Art Exhibition, this outstanding show focuses on the sculptural production of this great artist, in order to permit a more thoughtful interpretation of his all career, in an exclusive exquisite setting of great merit, as the Garden of Palazzo Soranzo Cappello, in Santa Croce 770, Venice.

«Matta is the one who most pursues his own fate, which maybe is the only way to discover the highest secret of all: the control of fire»: it is with these words that André Breton describes Roberto Sebastian Matta, in 1944. Architect, painter and – what's more – a virtuoso in the use of bronze and metals, it is within his own artistic production that the words of the Surrealist leader are proved to be true: his figures are images of magmatic deepness, hailing back to geological ancient epochs, earthly mythological religions. This great art master controls these forces, he comprehends and shapes them in archetypal figures and structures. It is a dangerous drive that generates the sculptures: they bring us back to volcanic and earthy bursts or to quintessential human questions, that Matta is never tired to investigate. His twisted, contorted figures recall the primitivist nightmares of the Parisian avant garde and will not leave Matta's art until his death. However, it is remarkable that these figures are linked to actual events and not prescribed by the unconscious: unlike many other surrealists, Matta did not use dreams as a subject, instead he worked on political and historical issues. His sculptures resemble ancient gods and goddesses, emerging from a prehistorical and ancient past, from Greece, or maybe Mediterranean or South American cultures: in an eclectic aesthetic we find out how similar are all human archetypes. From animals to mythological figures, from the Philosopher' stone to ancient warriors: even in the titles given it is clear how much Matta loved and comprehended those various heritages. By this, we are allowed to call him the Nomad of art, a globe-trotter wandering on always different paths, coming from his mother country – Chile – and going to the continental Europe and Russia, from Scandinavia to United States. From “Mater Nostrum”, a variation on the mare nostrum of his beloved Italy, to “Peru”, “Inca” and “Colomberos”: through these sculptures and the choice of using bronze, Matta echoes a prehistorical era, especially in this peculiar production that includes pieces such as “Cromagnak” and “Ganesha”, up to the “Floricor” and “Margarita” armchairs. This is the reason why Matta is a Master – as Breton said: he pursues his own fate, following his genius and going back to the mythological, mysterious past that preexists all of us. In this long journey he has found the fil rouge that combines all different identities and legacies in a rare and unique artistic profile: Matta forged bronze by an ancient, eternal fire.

Roberto Sebastian Matta has been one of the great protagonists of the Art History of the XX century: his life and his work are not only situated in the context of European art history, but also within the increasingly linked cultural histories of Latin America, the United States, Italy, Spain, and France.

Chilean-born Matta is one of the most loved artists among the South American collectors, he has lived in Paris, where he entered the Surrealist group as its youngest member in 1937, in New York, where he has been widely acclaimed for his critical—and catalytic—influence on the development of Abstract Expressionism and on his contemporaries, including Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell, and in Italy, where he spent the last fifteen years of his life. In those years, he met Franco Calarota, establishing a professional and confidential relationship. Franco Calarota – chairman of the Galleria d'Arte Maggiore – has long worked for the promotion of his art production both on the market, as the Gallery had the exclusive right to deal with his works in Italy for more than fifteen years, and organizing institutional exhibitions – such as «Roberto Sebastian Matta. Sculptures», included in the official Collateral Events of the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia from May to October 2015 and following the celebration for the one-hundred years from his birth which in 2011 has seen many solo show dedicated to his works all over the world from New York City to Santiago of Chile. Another important exhibition curated by Galleria d'Arte Maggiore in 2013 was the one at Fondazione Querini Stampalia, «MATTA. Roberto Sebastian Matta - Gordon Matta-Clark - Pablo Echaurren».

After nearly a decade in the United States, Matta returned to Europe in 1948. The artist resided in Rome until 1955 and lived the rest of his life in Paris, London, and Tarquinia (an ancient Etruscan city north of Rome). Throughout his life, Matta traveled widely and synthesized the influences of the many profound thinkers, artists and revolutionaries, as well as the diverse cultures that he encountered, into his work. In 1957 the Museum of Modern Art, New York recognized Matta’s significance in shaping the trajectory of modern art with a major retrospective devoted to his works until that date.

“The function of art,” Matta once said, “is to unveil the enormous economic, cultural, and emotional forces that materially interact in our lives and that constitute the real space in which we live.” Pushing beyond the Surrealists’ typical Freudian-inspired work, Matta sought to create an art that was not purely introspective, but that instead spoke to a broader social context. From his earlier landscapes of the tumultuous Chilean geography to his portrayal of the horrific realities of World War II, the racial violence in the United States in the 1960s and the war in Vietnam, Matta’s energized canvases reflect a profound awareness of the world and a unique ability to portray the realities of our shared social history.

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