La Verdadera historia universal

Initially considered a disciple of the artist Elso Padilla because of his use of natural materials and a preference for iconic representations of humanity, Carlos Estevez has developed a coherent personal mythology that guides his work. In hus words, his sources comprise a fusion of “anthropology, existentialism literature, syncretic cults, ontology, medieval codes, popular cultures, religion, the knowledge summarized in encyclopedias, the philosophy of Kant and Nietzsche, Asian spiritual beliefs, and Ernst Cassirer’s Neo-Kantism."

In this work, La Verdadera Historia Universal (The True History of the World, 1995, MNBA) the linear concept of history is subverted by placing the viewer literally in front of a wooden puppet theatre where he can eliminate or add heroes, historical figures, and villains. Once again, we see Martí among this gallery which overlooks a pile of figures scattered on the floor - the discarded, or detritus, of history.