Marcos Benítez
Bio
Marcos Benítez (Asunción, 1973) is a contemporary visual artist from Paraguay. His work operates at the intersection of academic traditions of modern Paraguayan art and contemporary and popular expressions. His graphic production, objects, videos, and installations engage in dialogue with Paraguayan folk art from a conceptual perspective and through an approach rooted in situated practices.
He has exhibited individually on a regular basis since 1995 and has received several awards, including the Livio Abramo Printmaking Prize (1994), the Henri Matisse Prize (2000), and the Invernadero Prize (2019).
He has participated in artist residencies such as Parcours Contemporain, Fontenay-Le-Comte, Pays de la Loire, France (2001), and Puerto Casado: BAR Project Residency, Fabra i Coats, Barcelona (2018).
Benítez is a member of the collective Ediciones de la Ura and the Gente de Arte Association.
He has taken part in major biennials including the Mercosur Biennial, the Havana Biennial, the Cuenca Biennial, the Curitiba Biennial, and the Asunción Biennial.
His work is held in collections such as the Centro de Artes Visuales/Museo del Barro, the Fundación Migliorisi/Colecciones de Arte, and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA)."
Statement
Ñoty—which in Guaraní means “to sow”—is a series of ceramic pieces assembled and arranged in planters, conceived as object-based platforms and spaces for containment, growth, and contemplation.
The project originates from an observation of the everyday visual landscape of Areguá, a city shaped by its tradition of serial ceramic production. I’m interested in exploring these pieces as fragments open to new interpretations, beyond their original function, and bringing them together into compositions that evoke domestic ruins, minimal architectures, or thoughts in the process of growing.
The title finds meaning in a phrase my friend Feliciano Centurión once said to me: “You’ve sown the seed, now it needs watering.” That idea of care and continuity guides the entire project. Feliciano also created a series in which he planted everyday domestic objects—small shovels, sponges, a flyswatter—into small ceramic pots. He gave me one as a gift.
Ñoty invites us to think of ceramics as a contemporary language—one that doesn’t end in the kiln, but is activated through its interaction with its surroundings. Like a plant that, when placed in a new container, also transforms the way it expresses itself.
Additional information
Propuesta objetual desarrollada por el autor Marcos Benítez como un homenaje a Feliciano Centurión
