1972 | He was born in Montevideo where he lives and works.
“One paints because is not aware of something. It’s like looking at oneself in the mirror with the Light off. Perhaps that is the reason why my paintings are always about inner and dark spaces”.
Esteban Smerdiner´s work raises the issue of that complex search for the soul of things. “Universal truths should be found inside oneself.” Introspection and silence. He paints by night, so as not to be distracted by superficial details. Also, to control light and its shades. The encounter with light is a process, “…first, I darken the canvas and I put the material on it, then I wipe it over to thin it down and shape the contours.” He shows us his creation once he has finished, after a long and reflexive process. He does not sign his works because it is not necessary, he is there, present, involved. “I paint bums, stray dogs. … images that are not immaculate, they have a past, they have that kind of wisdom that one, surrounded by books, doesn’t gain. And the visions of these images or stories are hung up in time and space, in a non-action. If I could, I’d paint the rain, the scents.”
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
He studies at Clever Lara´s workshop and at the National School of Fine Arts with Carlos Seveso and Carlos Musso.
1984 | 1996 He studies music and attends different plastic art workshops.
1992 | 1995 He takes courses at the Industrial Design Center (after obtaining the first position in the entrance examination).
1999 | 2003 He teaches at the Industrial Design Center.
At present, he teaches al Clever Lara’s workshop. He is a member of the Uruguay Cultural Fundation for the Arts
EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS
2004 Amengual | Lara | Paz | Smerdiner, Zorrilla Museum, Montevideo, Uruguay.
2003 Fernández | Muhvich | Smerdiner | Turell, Pre-Universitario San Felipe y Santiago, Montevideo, Uruguay.
2003 Collective exhibition, Uruguayan Embassy in Washington, USA.
2002 Individual exhibition, Libertad Libros, Montevideo, Uruguay.
2002 Collective exhibition, Seveso Workshop, Municipal Museum of Treinta y Tres, Uruguay.
2002 Collective exhibition, Lara Workshop, Pre-Universitario San Felipe y Santiago, Montevideo, Uruguay.
2001 Mention, Philips Prize for Young Talents, Montevideo Town Hall, Uruguay.
2001 Honorable mention, 49th National Salon of Art, Uruguay.
2001 Collective exhibition, 49th National Salon of Art, National Museum of Visual Arts, Uruguay.
2001 Collective exhibition, National School of Fine Arts, Montevideo Town Hall, Uruguay.
2000 Mention, Philips Prize for Young Talents, Montevideo Town Hall, Uruguay.