Sebastian Fund: De bestias, máscaras y selvas

In the exhibition De bestias, máscaras y selvas, held at the Josep Renau Gallery of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Universitat Politècnica de València, artist Sebastián Fund’s proposal is a must-see along the route. His individual project within this group show stands out not only for its technique but also for the symbolic and emotional depth of its concept.

Fotografía de la exposición capturada por @off.dario

Sebastián Fund presents 16 printed works on fabric from his Bestias Negras series, which he began in 2018 and revisited specifically for this exhibition. These pieces were later intervened by artist Summer Romero, who added natural dyes and motifs, bringing new layers of meaning and sensitivity to the original proposal. The exhibition also includes video projections by Fund himself, expanding the experience into the audiovisual realm.

Fotografía de la exposición capturada por @off.dario

The Bestias Negras series stems from the artist’s interest in exploring the relationship between human beings and their most primitive, animalistic side, taking as a starting point the pre-Hispanic myths of the nahuales and other figures from Mexica cosmogony. Far from an exotic or distant perspective, Fund invites us to identify with that wild part that lives within us—that instinctive voice that civilization has sought to repress, yet remains an essential part of our nature.

“The project is a critique of the idea of what’s considered ‘correct,’ of the normative path that often distances us from our true essence,” Fund explains. “The beasts represent the untamed, the impulse, the inner voice that connects us with what’s real. For me, art is a channel for that reconnection.”

Among the pieces, his Self-Portrait stands out, in which the artist depicts himself with a snake’s head—a symbol that has played an important role in various cultures and, in this case, serves as a metaphor for transformation.“The snake is an animal with which I have a close, even personal relationship. It represents change, renewal, the reptilian… It’s a tribute to my most instinctive, ever-changing side,” he explains.

Fund’s proposal feels like an invitation to look at ourselves in the mirror of our own beasts. Far from being monsters, they are images of a deep truth, revealed precisely through art—understood as a form of mask, as Oscar Wilde said, that allows humans to say what they wouldn’t dare to without it.