MOLAA’S INAUGURAL LIVE ART AUCTION

LOT #24LEO MATIZ (Colombia, 1917-1998)Mexico, 1952/2011Gelatin silver print, ed. 1/510 x 8 in. (25.3 x 20.3 cm)Gift of the Leo Matiz Foundation, courtesy of Alejandra von Hartz Gallery, MiamiEstimated price: $3,000-$5,000Leo Matiz is a pioneer of abstract photography in Latin America, experimenting from the 1940s through1980. Although in recent years the unique body of abstract work by Matiz has gained attention, it was notrecognized during his lifetime, even though his figurative photography was well established. However, heinsisted on continuing to develop his body of work that focused on abstraction. It was not until 2005 thatmany unpublished photographs and others printed posthumously were exhibited in Bogotá and Mexico andshown last year in the exhibition Cold America, Geometric Abstraction in Latin America (1934-1973), in theFundación Juan March, Madrid, curated by Osbel Suárez.The photograph Mexico, 1942 belongs to the selection that was printed posthumously for the exhibition, inwhich Matiz masterfully used contrasts of light and shadows to achieve abstract compositions of everydayobjects such as windows or bricks.Matiz studied in the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, Bogotá and in 1937 he studied in the atelier ofphotographer Luis B. Ramos. As a young man he worked for the journal El Tiempo. He travelled to MexicoCity, South America, and the Middle East working for various publications and political agencies as aphotojournalist. Some exhibitions that have featured his work include: Cold America, Geometric Abstractionin Latin America (1934-1973) / América-Fría: La abstracción geométrica en Latinoamérica (1934-1973),Fundación Juan March, Madrid, 2011; New Perspectives in Latin Americn Art, MoMA, New York, 2007; Sitesof Latin American Abstraction, CIFO, Miami, 2007; Fotografía de América Latina, Miami Dade CountyPublic Library, Miami, 1996; and the retrospective exhibition Homenaje 50 años de trabajo, Museo de ArteModerno, Bogotá, 1998.26