Born in Porto, 1968
The work of this artist more or less explicitly sums up the stature of women in contemporary societies, in ambiguous and shifting movements.
The work of art owned by the Colecção Berardo Conta-me coisas (Tell me things), 2007 confronts with three different realities; image, sound and text. We are allowed to view an urban journey, seen from the interior of a car. The grey wintry weather brings forth discomfort and nostalgic sensations accentuated by the minimalist repetitive sounds, and the disperse fragments of text. The words call a love affair to mind, a vibrant although concealed sexuality making what is presented to us appear distant and abstract.
They represent the course of desire, erratic, where we lose and find, the power and discomfort of insecurity in front of what we see, however underlined by the hypnotism flowing from the images and sounds.
Cristina Mateus has often shown her work systematically since 1994. Não Digas Nada, Galeria Presença, Porto, Portugal, 1998. Political Body, Institute of Visual Arts, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, EUA, 1999. Fuga, Galeria Cesar, Lisbon, Portugal, 2000. No Meio, Galeria Marta Vidal, Porto, Portugal, 2004. Conta-me Coisas, Desenho e Vídeo, Galeria Fernando Santos, Espaço 531, Porto, Portugal, 2007.
