Abrir el cubo y encontrar la vida 

Roberto Matta's abstract painting, titled 'Abrir el cubo y encontrar la vida,' is a swirling vortex of emotion and memory, painted with oil. The painting teems with fragmented images of a city, perhaps, or some technological apparatuses suspended between a murky sky and what appears to be a dark abyss. These motifs resonate with the anxiety-ridden visions of modernity we also see in Italian Futurism, yet here, they are rendered with a chaotic sensibility. Notice the cube-like structure hovering above the scene. The cube, a symbol of stability and order, is here disrupted, opened to reveal 'life'—a life, however, that seems fraught with tension. The cube motif evokes similar structures in Renaissance paintings, where it symbolizes rationality and perspective. The dynamic interplay of light and dark creates a sense of unease. This tension—between order and chaos, light and darkness—serves as a potent symbol of the psychological turmoil inherent in the modern human experience. It’s a chaotic, subconscious force engaging us on a deep, almost primal level. It reminds us how symbols resurface, evolve, and take on new meanings in different historical contexts.