Street Artist Uses Traditional Persian Rugs As Canvas To Spray-Paint Female Portraits

Mateo is a french artist based in Montreal. He is best known for his baroque street art inspired by ornaments from around the world, as well as for his striking oriental carpet paintings, resulting in a mix of urban art with the heritage of ancient cultures.

More: Mateo, Instagram, Facebook h/t: boredpanda

The art of Mateo questions the perception and impact of traditional and ancient wisdom in our western societies nowadays. His humanistic approach proposes to reconnect with fundamental inspirations, a bridge to our deep origins as well as a romanticism erased in our contemporary society.

His iconic painted traditional carpets featuring striking feminine features adorned with ancient motifs as well as spiritual metaphors, forces us to question our cultural identity and universal consciousness in a relentless system that pushes for uniformity in contemporary mass culture.

After a decade-long globe-trot, leaving his mark by painting walls along his path, he’s now exhibited in galleries around the world along with famous artists Obey, FinDac, MrBrainwash, JonOne and grandmasters like Basquiat, Keith Haring, Warhol, Miro, Picasso, Dali…

“I’ve been painting in the streets for 12 years. In 2015, during a residency in Barcelona, I started using the traditional Azulejos ceramic design that we often see in Spain, Portugal, and Maghreb in my work. I started including these colored patterns in my murals, and it became my trademark as a street artist. This led me to great interest and study of traditional crafts of different cultures around the world and their symbols. I searched for a way to link traditional arts and crafts to my paintings and urban art.

Carpets are one of the most ancient, visually rich, and meaningful traditional arts that can be found. They are traditionally weaved by women, which is why I chose to represent women’s portraits on them,” he told Bored Panda.