Until 13 July 2025, Artbooth Gallery is holding The Return to Essence, a solo exhibition by Uruguayan-Lebanese artist Bruno Sfeir. The show features his latest series of paintings which marks an evolution in his practice, guiding viewers through a richly layered exploration of imagination, memory, and abstraction.
Sfeir studied at the Taller (Workshop) Torres-García, Uruguayan-Spanish artist Joaquín Torres-García’s school renowned for its Constructivist legacy. However, his work has since moved beyond the grid and embraced a more fluid and intuitive visual language. Sfeir’s compositions inhabit a space of harmony where reason and intuition converge, giving rise to imagery that is both structured and instinctive.
In the exhibited paintings, Sfeir revisits the Uruguayan countryside not as it appears, but as it is experienced. They are not conventional landscapes: they are emotional topographies, interior dreamscapes shaped by memory and transformation. For example, in the Surreal Countryside Scene, a cow grazes in a familiar landscape, yet the proportions warp and render the scene dreamlike and enigmatic.
Sfeir’s practice is rooted in a desire not to depict the world, but to reinvent it. As he explains, his paintings may begin with the observation of a concrete reality, but as he paints, that reality shifts according to the needs of the composition. This dialogue between order and invention imbues his work with quiet strength and resonance.
About the artist
Bruno Sfeir (b. 1970, San José de Mayo, Uruguay) is a multidisciplinary artist who studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Montevideo (Uruguay) and Van Der Kelen Institute in Brussels (Belgium).
His work is based on symbolic gesture and spiritual inquiry, often reflecting a poetic sensitivity to space, memory, and transformation. His architectural background lends his compositions a strong spatial awareness, while his use of materials evokes a tactile and meditative presence.
Sfeir’s art has been shown internationally at different venues such as the Crypt Gallery (London, UK, 2017), Village Gallery (Shanghai, China, 2006), and the Brazil-USA Cultural Institute (São Paulo, Brazil, 2004). His solo exhibitions have taken place at Marvin Gallery (Madrid, Spain, 2021), the Public and Cultural Diplomacy Centre of China, and the Uruguayan Embassy (Beijing, China, 2018), among other venues.
Sfeir’s accolades include the Award from the Bank of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (1992), the Award from the Ministry of Tourism of Uruguay (1997), and an Honorable Mention at the National Interior Salon “75 Years of Teatro Macció” (1987). His art pieces are part of public and private collections across Argentina, Belgium, Kuwait, Spain, and beyond.
To learn more about The Return to Essence, please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
In addition, you may be interested in visiting Nadia Saikali and Her Contemporaries.
