Ángel Uriel Barreto
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Ángel was born in Asunción, Paraguay, where he currently resides. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Arts at Asunción National University. He works as the Head of the Applied Computer Science Department and as a teaching assistant in the Visual Language Department at Asunción National University, where he is also part of the Visual Arts Degree Coordination.
In addition to his work in education, Ángel dedicates much of his time to art production. He explores various media, mainly focusing on photography and video. His work has received public recognition and multiple awards, including a mention in the 2020 photography contest “Paraguay, the Country I Would Like to See” organized by ONUpy. He is a member of the visual artist collective “Contraluz,” with which he has participated in various national and international group exhibitions. In 2023, he was selected for the training program “Invernadero: Arte-Política-Experimento,” which included a residency and culminated in an art exhibition showcasing the project’s results in February and March 2024. Additionally, he won the Second Matisse Prize in the 2024 edition.
Ángel’s artistic work addresses the relationship between people and their environment. The city takes on a prominent role in his work, where he explores issues, situations, realities, and experiences that emerge through his creative process. This contextual and media exploration results in sensitive, thought-provoking work. Although his primary medium is photography, his explorations sometimes extend to video, installations, or interventions. For him, the photographic record is not just a finished piece but a form of ongoing research. Certain themes regularly recur in his work: urban living, observations of the ordinary, commuting journeys, traces of change, and the often fraught relationship between the environment and its inhabitants. Ángel is also open to experimenting with diverse media and technologies, such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and malleable materials.