Daniel Mattar: From Micro Gestures to Monumental Photographic Landscapes

Brazilian artist Daniel Mattar (b. 1971, Rio de Janeiro) has developed a practice that transforms microscopic interventions on everyday materials into large-scale photographic works that blur the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and photography. After nearly three decades as a portrait photographer, Mattar moved to Lisbon in 2018 and shifted his focus to the intimate surfaces of found objects—packaging, printed images, ink cartridges—which he covers with oil paint and mineral pigments before photographing them under calibrated light. The resulting images, often printed on aluminum and sometimes further painted, reveal ridges and crevices resembling mountain ranges or cosmic formations, challenging perceptions of scale. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, the Banco do Brasil Cultural Centre, the Sergio Porto Cultural Space, and the Deji Art Museum, which acquired his Photographic Drawings series. Now based in Paris, Mattar recently published a book tracing his recent artistic journey. His practice is influenced by Zen Buddhism and Japanese calligraphy, emphasizing emptiness and balance.