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Juan Butten and His Explorations (Excerpt from Critical Analysis)
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Juan Butten: An Artist Who Transcends the Conventional

By: Alfonso Tejada
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Juan Butten Exhibits at "Casas + Islas"
Juan Butten Exhibits at “Casas + Islas” from May 17 to August 4 at Urban Art Museum, Proyectos Punto Gallery in Salem, Massachusetts
Juan Butten is participating in the “Casas + Islas” exhibition at Proyectos Punto Gallery, showcasing his recent works created from solid waste collected from various beaches in our country. This exhibition is the result of a masterful observer challenging our perception of beauty through a meticulous study of the environment, exploring painted walls and abandoned facades. Lottery booths, business facades, corner stores, and vernacular houses are adorned with graffiti, signs of time, and picturesque messages ranging from the comic to social critique. These pieces tell stories full of character and soul without the need to represent characters directly.
“This exhibition is the result of a masterful observer challenging our perception of beauty through a meticulous study of the environment.”
Nos dice la critico de arte Flor María Lorenzo Butten va más allá al exhibir el material, camuflando su esencia a favor del folclore y la idiosincrasia dominicanos. Crea un paisaje “costumbrista urbano contemporáneo” modificando a la luz del contexto actual lo plasmado por artistas costumbristas como Yoryi Morel a inicios del siglo XX, provocando en los elementos característicos una metamorfosis: los flamboyanes pasan a ser palos de luz; las casitas del campo, bancas de lotería y las marchantas, colmados. Un panorama que, para bien o para mal, representa nuestra existencia hoy.
En “Fase Uno”, la naturaleza queda excluida, haciendo un fuerte llamado a la conciencia ambiental. La instalación que recrea la manzana de un barrio, "flotando" y desprovista de árboles y montañas, simboliza el riesgo de la isla siendo llevada a la deriva por el plástico.
“His art invites us to reconfigure our perspective, discover beauty in unexpected places.”
La obra de Butten trasciende el arte convencional, provocando una reflexión profunda sobre la interconexión entre el ser humano y su entorno. La obra de este artista es una invitación a reconfigurar la mirada, a descubrir la belleza en lugares insospechados, a cuestionar la identidad dominicana, a sorprendernos con los pequeños detalles, pero sobretodo a través de su mirada crítica y su maestría técnica, nos convoca a repensar nuestro papel y responsabilidad hacia el planeta que habitamos.
Sobre El Artista
Juan Butten was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and currently lives in New York. He is a multidisciplinary artist who combines his knowledge from various branches of the arts. His recent miniature works are predominantly created from recycled materials collected from the beaches of the Dominican Republic. Juan Butten has held solo exhibitions such as “Transgresión Morfológica” at the Instituto Cultural Dominico Americano in Santo Domingo (2007), “Catarsis” at UNESCO in Santo Domingo (2008), and “Fase Uno” at the Centro Cultural de España in Santo Domingo (2023). In these recent works, Butten invites us to reflect on the plastic crisis on our island and its future impact—a pressing concern given the warnings that by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in our oceans.
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