Reality is seldom what it seems. Most people have experienced the astonishment one feels when you discover that what you see is something other than what you previously thought. That is the core of my work. When you enter an exhibition space and look at one of my sculptures, most probably you will think you are looking at a “readymade”. That is an object from the real world that is transported into the gallery space and thus becomes an object of art. In that capacity, its appearance is given a critical function. An open window to discuss different topics, like art itself.

My work gives the viewer a feeling of experiencing a sculptural theater-prop, or that the viewer has stumbled into a scene from a ludicrous movie. My works are surreal, dislocated happenings that seem otherworldly yet could exist in this world, evoking a feeling or notion of the absurd. My practice as an artist also focuses on the differences between cultures and the varying roles of the individual. I have developed a formal and conceptual visual language that is immediate yet very human. I use visual counterfeits or replicas to address these cultural differences and the collective global mind. Their surrealistic nature invites the viewer to project their own narrative onto my work.

Another layer of content and narrative in my work is he counterfeiting culture. Counterfeiting culture can be perceived from two different somewhat conflicting angles, we call this multifaceted cognition. Labor is a subject that I also refer to my work. I spend an enormous amount of workings hours to finish each sculpture, and this kind of work demands intensity of labor and skills. It is hidden in the layers of content, a metaphor that invites the discussion of the artist role and the art market in contemporary society.

Juan Andrés Milanes Benito