Luca Benites

Born in Brasília in 1981, Luca Benites is a visual artist and architect currently based in São Paulo. His artistic journey began in 1998 under the mentorship of renowned Uruguayan painter Ignacio Iturria, in Montevideo. He holds a degree in Architecture from Universidad ORT (Uruguay, 2006), where he also taught architectural design for five years. He later pursued further academic training in Europe, earning a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (2012) and a Master’s in Fine Arts from the Universidad de Barcelona (2013).

Since the early 2000s, Benites has been creating works that blend sculpture and painting, frequently using cement as his primary medium. In 2004, he was part of the winning team of a national public art competition for a monumental sculpture installed in Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Montevideo. From 2002 to 2008, he also co-managed an architecture firm while continuing to develop his artistic practice.

For nearly two decades, his work focused on themes related to urban growth and spatial transformation. In 2016, seeking a new direction, he destroyed approximately 300 of his own artworks in a symbolic act of renewal. This dramatic moment was documented in the film “Fogo”, shot in the village of Ebnit, Austria. Using the ashes from this act, Benites created the transitional project Fogo, which includes hourglasses, installations, and paintings that explore concepts of time, memory, and impermanence.

Between 2017 and 2019, he developed the project Nexus in Brazil, supported by two Brazilian collectors. This marked a new phase in his career, embracing a more introspective approach, distanced from the architectural vocabulary that previously defined his work.