Born in France in 1985, Mateo is a French artist based in Montreal. He is best known for his baroque street art inspired by ornaments from around the world, as well as for his striking oriental carpet paintings, resulting in a mix of urban art with the heritage of ancient cultures.
His signature painted rugs feature striking feminine portraits adorned with ancient patterns reflecting an amazing way to pay homage to diversity in human cultures. Forcing us to question our cultural identity and traditions in a system that drives uniformity and contemporary mass culture.
Traditionally woven by women, these rugs are placed horizontally on the ground to walk on. In this work, the position of the carpet will be reversed and displayed vertically on a wall to pay homage to the creative force of these women with ornamented skin.
Throughout the Orient, the ornamental design and symbolism of a rug's origins date back to the earliest past. Certain pieces are obviously loaded with a cleverly formulated philosophical message as well as totemic, tribal or spiritual symbols.
By adding a human element, following the exact rules of symmetry present in a carpet and in a face, these works touch our deep being, our universal consciousness, they question our cultural identity currently cannibalized by standardization and mass culture. Denouncing the loss of our link with ancestral knowledge, the wisdom of our elders and the transmission of their learnings.