Artist Profile: Carlos Mateu
Overview
Carlos Mateu is a New York-based painter whose work blends geometric abstraction with figuration to explore emotional interiority, identity, and spiritual symbolism. Born in Cuba and influenced by a legacy of Caribbean visual traditions, Mateu creates layered compositions that speak to diaspora, memory, and the quiet force of thought. His meticulous use of shape and form gives his paintings a mosaic-like quality, combining precision with poetic depth.
In Perla Marina (thoughts), Mateu renders a woman curled inside a crystalline structure submerged beneath the sea. Above the surface, an owl, floating bottles, and a distant ziggurat offer clues to the symbolic realm of the subconscious. Below, the figure is encased in solitude and introspection, delicately painted with angular planes that evoke vulnerability within containment. The work is both personal and mythic, suggesting the weight of thought and the passage between inner and outer worlds.
Featured Artwork
Bushwick Gallery
Artwork Title: Perla Marina (thoughts)
Year of Creation: 2018
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 53 x 35 inches
Location: New York City New York
Price: Available upon request