Marcel Mendez - Universo #1 -XL- ( No reserve )

Title: Universe #1
Series: The Universe of the 1000 Faces
Technique: Acrylic on canvas

This work inaugurates a new series in which geometric portraits abandon the traditional format and begin to inhabit architectural, symbolic, and surreal settings.

The composition presents a female face elevated on a long neck that emerges from a cubic structure. The face is divided between turquoise and yellow, framed by black hair with straight lines. The eyes receive different treatments: one retains a more natural shape, while the other appears surrounded by a circle reminiscent of a lens, a portal, or a viewing mechanism. Red lips introduce a small point of intensity at the center of the figure.

The cubic base combines red, turquoise, and yellow, with large arched openings that allow a view inside. This architecture functions simultaneously as pedestal, body, and habitable space. The perspective of the openings and the shadow projected onto the floor add depth, creating an interesting contrast with the flat treatment of the face.

The background divided between violet and turquoise expands the sense of being in an imaginary place. Warm and cool colors, united by precise black lines, build a balanced and enigmatic scene. The work blends neocubist portraiture, geometric abstraction, hard-edge aesthetics, and architectural surrealism.

Artwork ficha

* Original and unique work.
* Year: 2026.
* Technique: acrylic on canvas.
* Vertical format.
* The interior spaces shown in the mockups are for illustrative purposes only.

Shipping

The painting will be carefully protected and shipped rolled inside a sturdy tube, without a frame, to ensure safe transport. Once received, it can be easily mounted on a new frame at any specialty store.

Art series: The Universe of the 1000 Faces

The Universe of the 1000 Faces begins as an expansion of the series The 1000 Faces. In this new project, the characters stop appearing only as portraits and begin to exist within their own settings, formed by impossible architectures, open spaces, geometric structures, and imaginary landscapes.

The cubes, arches, passageways, shadows, and platforms do not merely serve as backgrounds. They are extensions of each character and represent their thoughts, memories, and inner spaces. At times, the body becomes a building; at others, the face appears integrated into a landscape or related to objects that alter its scale and meaning.

The series explores the boundary between portrait and setting, between figure and architecture, creating small scenes that hint at a story without fully explaining it. Each work invites the viewer to imagine who the character is, where they are, and what happens inside that silent world.

All pieces retain the geometric and chromatic language of The 1000 Faces, but incorporate a more narrative, spatial, and surreal dimension. Each painting represents a different place, though all belong to a single visual universe in constant growth.

Universe #1 is the starting point of this journey: the first doorway into a world where faces, architecture, and color begin to form a new reality.