Illustrator of magazines such as España, La Esfera, Alfaro Grecia, in 1921 he is granted to study art in Germany, France, Belgium and other countries. In Germany he collaborates with the magazine Simplicissimus and meets at first-hand the Central European expressionism.
In 1927 he travels again: he exhibits in the Parisian gallery Tempo and meets in Brussels Ensor, De Smet and Permeke. He gets back to Spain in 1930, participates in the II Independents Hall and collaborates with the newspapers El Socialista and La Tierra. (The Socialist and The Land). In 1931 he signs the manifesto of the Professional Association of Plastic Artists and founds La Conquista del Estado. (The Conquest of the State). He is an artist involved in the socialist ranks, during the Spanish civil war he carries out propaganda tasks for the Republic.
Francisco Mateos displays in the stand of Spain in the International Exhibition of Paris in 1937 and, right during the civil war, he displays his works along with Díaz-Yepes in the premises of the Alliance of Antifascist Intellectuals. After the exile, he comes back with exhibitions in the Modern Art Museum (1948) and in the Layetanas galleries (1950).
In many works of Mateos we can see a human show that reminds us, not only of theatrical effects but also of a very personal interpretation of everyday life. The world of commitment, the deformation of bodies and the alienated faces are transformed by Mateos into a sarcastic manifest of Spain. In nearly all his work, we can see an expressionist content, a “rough” palette, the world of tragedy, the satirical and grotesque aspects of life.
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Anthropomorphic Characters |
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