Booth walkthrough with the artist
Sebastián Sáez
In English, without translation.
Open to the public.
CURATORIAL VISION
For ESTE ARTE 2026, 12th edition, Galería Sur presents Midnight in the Wetland by Sebastián Sáez, conceived especially for the audience of ESTE ARTE and Uruguay.
The exhibition brings together a series of recent paintings that delve into the relationship between nature, memory, and transformation. Through large-scale works and a palette of vibrant tones, Sáez proposes a dialogue between the sublime and the vulnerable in the contemporary landscape.
The artist’s experiences in the Amazon rainforest and across diverse territories of the Americas and the world — from the environmental disaster of Bento Rodrigues (Brazil, 2016) to New York’s Central Park and the Queguay hills in Uruguay — are transfigured into images that oscillate between contemplation and critique.
Midnight in the Wetland is a visual meditation on beauty and loss — painting that arises from living matter to reflect the profound connection between human beings and their environment.
BIO
Sebastián Sáez (Uruguayan, b. 1974) is a painter and educator trained at the Fundación de Arte Contemporáneo with Fernando López Lage, and in art theory with Jacqueline Lacasa. Coming from a family of artistic tradition — related to renowned Uruguayan painter Carlos Federico Sáez — he has been represented by Galería Sur since 2020.
His work, deeply connected to nature as a source of refuge and inspiration, has evolved from portraits in vividly colored landscapes to large-scale compositions where the environment takes center stage. His experiences in the Amazon rainforest marked a turning point in his practice, leading to a poetic and critical exploration of landscape: from the environmental disaster of Bento Rodrigues (Brazil, 2016) to New York’s Central Park, the Queguay hills in Paysandú, and the Atlantic forest in Minas Gerais.
His work was included in the 59th National Visual Arts Award (2021), and in 2025 he presents the solo exhibition Midnight in the Wetland at the Museo Zorrilla in Montevideo.