Artist: Mateo
Title: Roya
Medium: Giclee Print
Size: 17 x 24 Inches
Edition: 10
Price: $285
*available at Noon EST on Wednesday October 15th, 2025
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Mateo is the professional alias of Canadian artist Mathieu Bories, a multidisciplinary creator who lives and works in Montreal. Born in 1984 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, he studied graphic design before dedicating himself to fine art, developing a visual language that merges street art energy with classical figure drawing. Working primarily in acrylic, spray paint and ink on canvas, wood and exterior walls, Mateo builds each piece through translucent colour fields and bold contour lines, allowing the texture of the support to remain visible so that every image feels discovered rather than imposed.
His subject matter drifts between portraiture, mythology and urban flora. Solitary faces emerge from swirling foliage, their eyes closed in quiet reflection, while birds and flowering vines weave through the composition like living tattoos. The palette leans toward sunlit ochres, muted olives and the occasional burst of cobalt, colours that echo both Quebec summers and Mediterranean coastlines. He begins with loose graphite sketches made during long walks, then develops the most resonant ideas into larger works that can take weeks to complete.
Recent bodies of work have focused on guardians, a series where anonymous figures cradle endangered animals, suggesting protection and vulnerability in equal measure. These paintings record not only ecological concern but also emotional weather: the ache of loss, the hope of renewal, the wonder of finding light in deep shadow. Mateo exhibits regularly throughout Canada and has placed work in private collections across Europe and North America via online platforms and Montreal galleries.
When he is not in the studio, he continues to explore alleyways and riverbanks, gathering photographs, leaves and fragments of stories that will feed the next canvas. By offering atmosphere ahead of narrative, Matteo invites viewers to step into his world and complete the tale with their own memories and hopes.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025 