Exhibitions

Mateo Romero"Towa Land"

Mateo Romero's one-man-show at Manitou Galleries is aptly titled "Towa Land", which is a Tewa word meaning a Pueblo person from a village.  The movement of Pueblo people through time and space—their history—seems, to Romero, like a stream “composed of many diverse and varied currents, connected together at all points simultaneously, yet with a degree of distinction in the currents.” “Some people, villages, artwork, dances might seem at first glance to be more central, essential, or forceful within the flow of the stream,” he writes. “In the end, it is enough for me to say that, when I had the chance in my life, I chose to be a part of the flow.”

Native people are born into this world with an expectation that they will be participatory in life and contribute to society. What Mateo Romero has contributed most directly to life are his children and his art. Painting and drawing have always been urgent, compelling, and necessary. He makes marks out of a need to communicate, to contextualize, to form meaning in the world around him. For him it is less a choice and more of a manic drive deeply embedded in his psyche. Without these things, his life would be empty indeed.  This show highlights his connection to land, time, space, being, spirituality, ceremony, prayer, religion, all those things that are essential to him as a human being.