Casting Nets, Constructing Networks: Leo Matiz and Latin American Artistic Exchange, 1940-1960

This paper traces the artistic production of Colombian photographer Leo Matiz over the course of two decades and three cities: Mexico City, Bogotá, and Caracas. I examine how Matiz’s photography reflects the cultural exchanges, artistic debates, and social realities of each urban space. Drawing on Colombian intellectual Jorge Zalamea’s theory of “arte testimonio,” I argue that each of Matiz’s photographs act as witnesses and form a network of artistic exchange across the political and social landscape of Latin America. By tracing the circulation of these images through social spaces and periodicals, I challenge narratives of Latin American art as belated or peripheral, and center the interconnected communities of cities across Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela.