Berlin artist: Mateo – Zozoville

Mateo Dineen was born in San Mateo, California.
From a young age he was fascinated by the idea of creating his own world full of odd monsters, and he spent many hours doing just that. In those early days it was not uncommon to see Mateo with pencil in hand, fervently giving life to his next creation. These days he still spends hours drawing and creating worlds, however now he does so with a more critical eye and uses his characters to express feelings and stories that examine the human condition and our place in the world.
In 2003 Mateo moved to Berlin. As he began his new life there, his art developed in new directions. He discovered that the Berlin flea markets offer a wealth of old materials left over from communist Germany. He saw that these objects already had the patina of life and presented a story of their own. These relics included munitions crates, tobacco tins, and old dusty books. By incorporating these things into his work, he was able to create something new. His characters were given new life on a background of collage and history. Over the next few years he and his artwork became a fixture of the Berlin art scene. In 2004 he and Johan Potma opened the Zozoville Gallery. These days Mateo can usually be found in the back room of that gallery creating more of his signature characters and monsters.

Have a look at his website, Mateo-art, awesome and full of particularity!

If you want to read a recent interview – I Heart Berlin -

His myspace – Mateoart -

Good surf! -Icca-