WHAT: “Matta: A Centennial Celebration”

WHEN: Through January 28, Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

WHERE: The Pace Gallery, 534 West 25th St., New York

WHY THIS SHOW MATTERS: While the Chilean artist’s 100th birthday was just last week, the timing of this Roberto Matta show also coincides with several other exhibitions. “Matta 1911-2011” will be at the Valencia d’Art Modern and Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao and the exhibition “Centenario Matta: 11.11.11” at the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda in Santiago.

Important late works like “The Fall (Autoritratto d’ognuno),” 1991, a seminal piece, will be included in the exhibition. A massive oil and acrylic painting over 10 feet high and 17 feet long, the canvas is filled with abstracted shapes and dark colors disrupted by a white burst across the center — as if the autumn wind were blowing through the composition. An endless movement and energy is felt in the frenetic line work exercised in his pieces, like that of “La terre et ses oignons,” 1994, in which scores of black, white, and blue lines radiate from a spherical green object, exploding with color.

"Matta: A Centennial Celebration" is a global retrospective of important works honoring the artist's lasting impact on Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.

To see a selection from "Matta: A Centennial Celebration" click here or on the slide show button above.