Simón Vega

Simon Vega’s work is at once both global and insistently local. To create the sculptures and installations made from found objects, Vega scours the environment in which the pieces will be presented to find an assortment of materials, many of which are some form of detritus. Vega’s two-dimensional pieces, in serving as a drawing board for his sculptural work, reiterate the political and socio-cultural themes explored throughout his oeuvre.
Owing to his Latin American origins, Vega’s work often focuses on the effects of the Cold War, which dominated the world over for much of the twentieth century, in the poverty-stricken nations of Latin America. Of particular interest are the fields of technology and architecture, as derivations of space and surveillance technology, as well as both historic and modernist buildings, which are integrated into his work. In Vega’s hands, however, these structures resemble the piecemeal structures of shantytowns more than the original streamlined and elaborate structures.
Simon Vega was born in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1972. He holds a BFA from University of Veracruz in Mexico, and graduated with a Master´s degree in Contemporary Arts from the Complutense University in Madrid in 2006. He has exhibited his work extensively in Europe, the United States and Latin America, including the 55th Venice Biennial in Italy, the IX Havana Biennial, at the Museo del Barrio’s “The S-Files” show in 2011. Vega currently lives in La Libertad, El Salvador.