EFRAIN UGUETO

Efrain Ugueto graduated from the Antonio Jose de Sucre institute in Caracas with a degree in Industrial Design. He later started his formal arts education at Experimental University of the Arts (UNEARTE), where he specialised in painting, and presented a dissertation on the ‘Demystification of Religious and Commercial Images’. In his dissertation, Efrain examines the relationship between religious and commercial images in their similarity and opposition.

Since then, Efrain has continued his exploration of commercial and religious icons, creating satirical Pop Art influenced visual objects which appropriate mass-media and advertising motifs, drawing parallels between religious iconography and everyday consumer images.

Viewing paintings as more than just brushstrokes on a canvas, Efrain believes that art has two properties that create meaning for the viewer. On the one hand, art is a mirror in which the beholder sees himself reflected in the art, and which is able to use memories and perceptions unique to the viewer in order to create a dialogue. On the other hand, art is also a magnifying glass, meaning that it is able to highlight reality and common issues within humanity. Art reveals the hidden, complicates obvious meanings, and overexposes common things, resulting in an odd experience.

“Painting is able to make connections, delete or emphasize errors, change reality and enhance features that bring together a large group of objects; a painting itself can be object and thought." - Efrain Ugueto

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