Mati Klarwein (1932 - 2002)

Admito que no soy un experto en el tema, pero si tuviera que generalizar, puedo decir sin problema que el arte surrealista no me gusta. Creo que Dalí, por ejemplo, fue genial en muchos aspectos pero también sospecho que era daltónico y sus cuadros no me llegan, por decirlo de algún modo.



Ahora, cuando un pintor con una tendencia surrealista como Mati Klarwein, que se formó en París y llegó a ser amigo de Boris Vian y Salvador Dalí, se muda a Nueva York y se codea con personajes como Andy Warhol, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Beard, Timothy Leary y todo el ácido que eso implica, el resultadado es otro.



Although considered a psychedelic artist by some, when asked in an interview "How do you feel about being classified as a psychedelic painter?" Mati Klarwein response was:

"I think it's subjective. Anybody can classify me as they wish. In the fifties I was classified as an illustrator, even though my work consisted of paintings. And in the sixties my work was classified as psychedelic. So I took psychedelics to find out what it was all about. I found out I couldn't paint on them.

I'll tell you about a funny episode. Jean Houston and Robert Masters put together a book called Psychedelic Art in the sixties, and they came to me. They did an interview with me, like we're doing now, to include me in their book. And they asked me, "What kind of psychedelics do you take when you're painting?" And I said, "I don't take anything when I'm painting. When I take psychedelics I get very horny, and I start going out to nightclubs and cruising."

So they said, "Well, we can't put you in the book." I freaked out, because I wasn't in any book yet, and I said, "But I get my ideas when I'm high." And they said, "Alright, we'll put you in the book."









Los cuadros más reconocidos de Mati Klarwein son "Annunciation" usado por Santana para su disco Abraxas de 1970, y Bitches Brew, usado por Miles Davis, también el el '70.

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