U from Uruguay, Martin Sastre – Venice Biennale 2013

At this years Venice Biennale Uruguay is housed under the Latin American Pavillion and represented by Martin Sastre. Here Sastre presents us with ‘U from Uruguay’, a perfume bottle and an advertisement for the said product. The advertisement is portrayed as a regular luxury item but the work also informs of us of the president of Uruguay, how he donates 90% of his wage to charity and how the flower extracts for the perfume have been cultivated in the Presidents garden, not in the presidential home expected from him but from his humble farm house outside of the capital.

Borrowing the aesthetic of commercial advertising Sastre contrasts his intention with the work, to raise awareness of Uruguay and its leaders exemplary lifestyle with that of luxury and capitalism. Echoing the presidents gesture, 90% of the monetary gain from the perfuming will be given to charity.

This work plays a successful role in the conversation between politics and art. Here Sastre shows us that it is possible to merge both in a way that doesn’t degrade either. Sastre provides a work that is both accessible and worthy of acclaim.