Contemporary Pueblo painter Mateo Romero assuredly is one of the best painters to emerge at the end of the Twentieth Century. He continues to reflect both the joys and conflicts of the human psyche. He speaks to every heart. The best of Mateo's strengths however, is his ability to impart to the layman every facet of the complex world of the Pueblos. It is through Romero's bold and dynamic paintings that we experience the pride, talent and voice of the Pueblo people.

In part, Mateo says: ”For me, the act of making art is like discovering the innocence of childhood again framed within adulthood. The act of losing oneself completely. Becoming immersed in the medium and the mark making process is as old as time itself, unselfconscious, like marks scratched in the overhang of the canyon walls. From these periods where I close the studio door and lose myself come my most productive works.”

Mateo was born and raised in Berkeley California. He has a BA in painting and art history from Dartmouth College, an M.F.A in printmaking from the University of New Mexico. He has taught painting at IAIA, where he holds an honorary degree. Museum that have collected his work include: Canadian Museum of Civilization, Denver Art Museum in Colorado, Poeh Cultural Center in Pojoaque Pueblo, Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe Missouri Historical Society in Forest Park Missouri, Peabody Essex Museum in Cambrtidge Massachusetts, School of American Research in Santa Fe.

Mateo lives in Pojoaque NM with his wife Melissa and their four children.