Maite and Manuel

MAITE Y MANUEL, Maite Garcia Argul (1996) and Manuel Puig (1991), Uruguay.
"Breakfast", 2024.
Acrylic, oil pastels and grease pencil on canvas.
Signed on the back.
Provenance: Miquel Alzueta Gallery, Barcelona.
Measurements: 130 x 162 cm; 133 x 165 cm (frame).

Maite Garcia Argul and Manuel Puig are a duo of painters born in Uruguay who currently reside in Mallorca. Maite studied graphic design and Manuel multimedia design. Both created in 2019 Gabinete Exquisito, a design and illustration studio based in Barcelona.

Oscillating between figuration and abstract expressionism, the authors define their pictorial work as "an aggressive but innocent fight". Their experience as cartoonists and designers of characters and pets before devoting themselves entirely to painting is reflected in their work, characterized by the appearance of creatures, characters, figures and imaginary friends that invade austere spaces of their everyday life such as tables, carts and messy rooms. "Breakfast" is proof of her creative power and fertile imagination.

The creative duo of Gabine Exquisite carries out a playful, conceptual and visually dynamic collaboration. They met while studying Graphic Design and Multimedia at ORT. While studying they realized that the career was not for them, and Maite confesses that they "always felt like strangers". Determined to leave this situation behind, they dared to abandon their studies and move to Barcelona to study Illustration in the Master's program at the Escuela Superior de Diseño BAU in Barcelona. They have held numerous exhibitions.