Being With (Etre Avec)

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, the USA).

One of the works of the series “Social Morphology”, dedicated to the crisis of modern society. Intimidating mechanical devices and unnatural postures of humanoid figures depicted in the picture evoke associations with medieval torture. Undoubtedly, the atmosphere of the canvas was inspired by the fear and cruelty of the war, which Matta deeply experienced in his mind, and which were expressed in his paintings. The red and orange colours and sketchy figures of the painting resemble Native American totem art; the large size of the canvas indicates the influence of the monumental painting of Mexico, which the artist got to know in the 1940s.