Series “Hom´mere III – L´Ergonaute”

“Hom’mère”

Roberto Matta created four series of engravings, which he called Hom’mère. Each folder or artist’s book presents a second name, the first of them being Hom’mère – Chaosmos (1973), followed by Hom’mère – L’autre (1975), Hom’mère – L’ergonaute (1977) and Hom’mère – Point d’appui (1983).

 

Taking the story of Jason and the Arognauts, one of the greatest epic poems of the Greek mythology that tells the story of the return trip of the hero, as an excuse, Matta created Hom’mère – L’ergonaute. He alludes to this classical narrative to illustrate an unedited biographical poem, in which he also reflects the social problems of the time.

The visual space between the works is paramount. We are presented with a chronological and historical order. We see linear vibrations, anthropomorphic characters set out in a space where texture and colour take precedence over anything else, full of transparencies that take us to one and another place at the same time in both a formal and plastic manner.

The Hom’mère series reflect his most developed artistic theories on the exploration and representation of the fourth dimension, the theory of relativity, movement and spatiality. He also addresses the theme of the identity of the human being and the origin of everything. It is not by chance that the title of the series is the combination of “homme” and “mère”: “Man” and “mother” in French.

 

Silvia Sánchez Ruiz
Curator

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References

Matta: Centenario 11.11.11. [Online catalogue]. Centro Cultural Palacio de La Moneda, Santiago de Chile, 2011-2012. Available at: https://issuu.com/centroculturallamonda/docs/catalogo_web [Date of access: 04/05/2023]

Moreno Campos, Ana Gabriela. “Roberto Matta: visiones e influencias de un grabador desconocido” [Online Tesis]. Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 2014. Available at: https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/36739 [Date of access: 06/03/2024]

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