Martín Sastre

Life and career

Sastre was born in Montevideo, Uruguay and started to study cinema at the early age of 8. He is the eldest brother of three children, a sister Maria Eugenia and brother Federico, among other members of his family, are regularly featuring in his early artwork.

In 2002 he moved to Madrid, granted by Fundación Carolina of the government of Spain. One of his best-known early video-works is the Iberoamerican Trilogy formed by Videoart: The Iberoamerican Legend, Montevideo: The Dark Side of the Pop and Bolivia 3: Confederation Next.

In 2003 Sastre set up the Martin Sastre Foundation for the Super Poor Art with the slogan, "Adopt a Latin American Artist". The Foundation has at its heart the opportunity to sponsor artists from the periphery who normally do not have the economic means to access international circuits.

In 2004 he won the First Prize for Young Artist at Madrid's highly prestigious ARCO Art Fair by the Madrid City Council. This same year his work Bolivia 3: Confederation Next, where a cartoon version of Sastre fights U.S. Artist Matthew Barney, was selected for the National representation of Uruguay in the São Paulo Biennial.

In 2005 his short film Diana: The Rose Conspiracy was released during the Venice Biennial where the artist claims to have found Diana, Princess of Wales alive in Montevideo. This same year, the Martin Sastre Foundation brought three German artists from the Bauhaus University in Weimar to Montevideo with his program "Be a Latin American Artist".

In 2008 he won the Faena Prize for an Urban video- intervention in Buenos Aires, Argentina featuring Latin American Sex symbol from the 60's Mrs Isabel Sarli, also this year the production of his first feature film was announced, a movie entitled Miss Tacuarembo starred by Natalia Oreiro and Rossy de Palma.

In 2011 receives the ALMA Award for best Script and the Best Film Biznaga Award for his first feature film at the Zonazine Malaga Spanish Film Festival.

Sastre is a vegetarian, his favorite drink is Fanta Light.

U from Uruguay

U From Uruguay, also known as "Pepe's perfume", is a conceptual piece featuring a perfume made by the artist with the essences extracted from the flowers grown by the President of Uruguay, José Mujica. From the funds risen by the perfume, 90% will be destinated to the creation of the first National Contemporary Art Fund in support of Latin American artists.

The fragrance was made a few months after, the artist collected, together with the president and his wife, senator Lucía Topolansky chrysanthemums and wild native Uruguayan herbs in the farm Rincón del Cerro, home of the president and his wife.

Only three bottles of this fragrance "U From Uruguay" have been produced, being the first one owned by President Mujica and the second one by the author. The only bottle for sale was auctioned on 31 May 2013 during the opening of the IILA (Instituto Italo-Latinoamericano) pavilion, within the framework of the 55th Venice Biennial

"U From Uruguay" was finally acquired for 50.000 dollars by Argentinian entrepreneur Alan Faena thanks to the intervention of Argentinian artist Marta Minujín as ambassador.

Minujín final offer turned the 33-milliliter bottle of "U from Uruguay" into the world's most expensive perfume fragrance ever existed, overcoming the Imperial Majesty created in 1872 at the request of Queen Victoria of England and back to be manufactured some years ago by Clive Christian, valued at $1,400 millilitre.

“U From Uruguay” is already part of the Faena Arts Center (FAC) collection, coordinated by Ximena Caminos in Buenos Aires.

Filmography

Quotes

"Hello Kitty is the Mona Lisa of the Future". Martin Sastre

Videography

Exhibitions (solo)

Exhibitions (group)