São Paulo – Carlos Matuck, 50 years old, a fine artist from the city of São Paulo, has his two feet on the East. Firstly, it is obvious, because of his origins: he is a grandson of Lebanese on both sides of the family. The second reason is not that obvious. Matuck is fascinated with a Middle East located a bit farther than the Arab countries – China. An 18-day trip of nine different cities that he took in 1994 changed his life forever. Ever since, ideograms, Chinese brushes and paper, and features of the country’s paintings are present in his work.
His fascination with Chinese painting – or better yet with the various styles that it comprises – is justified in several ways, but most of all because of the unexpected. “I returned from China with the certainty that we know nothing about the country. We do not possess any reference whatsoever about their culture,” he says. Chinese writing is also particularly appealing to him. Each ideogram is a true work of art. Therefore, poetry and painting almost get mixed with each other in the land of Confucius. Matuck went so far as to study Mandarin, but found it too difficult and gave up.
China, however, is only one of the features that permeate his work. Versatility is another one – he paints, draws, illustrates, does graffiti art, projects huge panels, makes installations. When he started painting, as a schoolboy, he used to draw a lot. He was taught by his older brothers, Artur and Rubens – the latter of whom is known, among other things, for his children’s book illustrations. Adolescence came, and along with it, graffiti – a technique that he uses until this day in his panels. The school of architecture remained unfinished. He had no academic background, hence, perhaps, his versatility.
Presently, many of his works can be seen in São Paulo. Be it inside a unit of SESC, be in the Cultura bookstores, which house huge panels. He also does lots of work commissioned by architects. Not to mention the exhibitions that he does from time to time. In the meantime, his head runs amok with his private projects.
The prisoners
Besides ideograms, Matuck has another passion – photography. Many works were born out of photographs. “I have been to the centre of São Paulo several times to take snapshots and then paint them out.” One thing that he does not like is sitting still somewhere in the city and paint its landscape. “I get anguished.” He sticks to the photographs. His workplace is an atelier in Embu das Artes, a neighbourhood in the surroundings of São Paulo.
One of his current projects is based on portraits of 19th century and early 20th century prisoners. It all began with a book of photographs of American prisoners. After making several studies of the prisoners’ faces – front and side – he had the insight: why not make one about Brazilian prisoners? He went to a penitentiary in São Paulo and after two years of much persistence, red tape and “no’s”, he gained access to the material. He knows that he has a treasure in his hands that can be turned into a beautiful exhibition. For the time being, however, while still struggling with the red tape, he uses the material for making further studies, which he baptised as “Retratos sinaléticos” (which can be freely translated as ‘Signaletic portraits’).
Photography is also his main connection to his family. And he is the guardian of the Matuck family’s iconographic material. One day – says the artist – he is going to create a work of art inspired by his family album.
As he looks at the pictures, he remembers the huge family that he had as a child. His Arab aunts and their kind words. “They used to say lots of things like ‘my heart’ or ‘my eyes,’” he recollects. “That is why, until this day, all that I can say in Arabic is curse words and tender words.” Out of all his family heritage, Lebanese cuisine is the most present feature nowadays. “These family get-togethers to eat are a typical feature of gregarious people. A carryover from the times when people used to live in villages.” Now, the only difference is that the family is getting smaller in size. He himself, Matuck, only has one daughter.
The names
The black-and-white photographs make him reminisce on the names of each uncle and aunt. The names, by the way, bring up singular family stories, such as that of aunt Nazira, who the boys used to call “Nariza”, or that of aunt Adibe, who was drafted into the army and had to present herself to prove that she was a woman. Adib with an E in the end is a woman’s name. But the Brazilian army was only convinced upon seeing her.
That is not to mention the simplification – or adaptation to local names. His mother, for example, Esther Abboud Simão Matuck, was always called by her nickname Zizinha. His maternal great-grandparents, in turn, Eid and Nemere, received Brazilian names: Joaquim and Julia.
Artistic talent ran in the family since earlier generations. “My paternal grandfather used to like carpentry. His tools were inherited by uncle Jorge, who became a popular artist and created very interesting and unique work,” he says. “On my mother’s side (Jubran family) there were people who liked to work with their hands as well, including my mother herself. She used to like painting, and we have a few pictures of hers in store.”
Matuck has an exhibition scheduled for March 2010 at the Graphias – Casa da Gravura gallery, in São Paulo. Those willing to get to know the artist’s work better in 2009 can visit his Website: http://www.carlosmatuck.com.br/.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
