Marcos Puhinger x UNODEUNO

Some artists seek perfection. Others seek truth. Puhinger works in the only place where both meet: in the patience of the persistent stroke, in the improbable mixture of colors, in the idea that technique is not a prison, but the most honest way of seeing.

Far from being hyperrealism, it is hyperobservation.

While others rush to produce, he refines a gesture for hours, because what he has before him is more than an object; it's the opportunity to say something without raising his voice. Perhaps that's why his work fits into a system like UNODEUNO: here we don't seek inherited aesthetics, but rather aesthetics that compel you to stop. And Puhinger, without trying to impose himself, compels you to look.

Q. Do you think hyperrealism is denigrated by the artists themselves?

Puhinger:I don't think it's so much the artist as it is the general public. Hyperrealism, as a friend told me, is the artist's way of seeing. Even if you put the image next to the artwork and it looks the same, there are always nuances we want to emphasize. But there's a bit of everything. Some people don't like abstract art, surrealism...

Q. How does your creative process begin? What do you enjoy most? What frustrates you?

Puhinger :"I'm a hyperrealist painter. And the process isn't just copying a photograph. The process begins with the conception of the idea. Preparing it, lighting it, taking the photograph, editing what you want to highlight or what you want to say with it..."

Q. When do you decide that an image deserves to become a work of art?

Puhinger :“I trust my taste, my taste for aesthetics. (…) When I think I’ve arrived at something that might not only please me, but someone else, and that I can generate something with it, sensations… Once the pencil sketch is done, there’s no going back.”

P. Technically you cover many bases, many techniques.

When I work with certain materials, I work in one style, and when I work with other materials, I work in another. For example, anything that has to do with something more pop, more urban, more underground, I like to work with charcoal, acrylic, and especially with a Bic pen. But the sea..."

P. You paint with a ballpoint pen, and you're self-taught, what's that like?

Puhinger :"It's about lightly touching the paper and leaving a very light layer of paint. It's always one layer on top of another. And you have a very limited range of colors. For example, there are no pens that have a skin tone range. You have to combine them, make a layer of magenta, a layer of blue... you add yellow, and you're already moving towards ochre. If you want to darken it more, you add a little brown or a little orange."

Q. What did connecting with UNODEUNO mean to you?

Puhinger :"I really liked the way he presented it to me. I really liked UNODEUNO's philosophy. When I spoke with Néstor, I was finally convinced. Fusing art and fashion. It's not just clothes, accessories, watches, no. It's also an art gallery."

Q. Why did you choose David?

Puhinger :"Michelangelo carved it from a worthless piece of stone. Many sculptors rejected it because it had flaws and was too narrow. This forced him into a pose that is unique today. I also wanted to vandalize it a little. I added the laurel wreath as a sign of victory. And UNODUNO saw it in the center, like the heart of a lake being born."

(If you want to see the full interview, don't missTheUNO Voice podcast)

Their collaboration with UNODEUNO

The David that Puhinger created for UNODEUNO is not a whim or a gratuitous act of irreverence. It is more like a visual thesis.

It represents many things, like the classical works devoid of symbolism, which said a great deal while seemingly saying very little. Puhinger wanted to bring the humanity of Michelangelo's work into the present. That's why he darkens it, tattoos it, inscribes it, places it in the urban and contemporary language, and fills it with references that speak of the brand, of time, of death, and of the pride of belonging.

The UNODEUNO watch on the wrist, the laurel wreath, the gesture of creation, the swallows that bring news, the memento mori phraseon the belly, the worker bee as a tribute to the team, the charcoal aesthetic that links with the brand's visual identity.

Classical beauty is still alive, but only if we allow it to touch the imperfect, the streetwise, the contemporary.

The self-taught artist

Marcos Mínguez Puhinger (Vigo, 1976) learned to draw the way one learns obsessions: scribbling in books, illustrating tables, repeating lines, clinging to a pen like someone discovering an instrument that doesn't forgive. His training is self-taught, although his rigor doesn't seem so.

He worked for years in the automotive industry, painting at night while most people slept. His leap into the professional circuit wasn't planned: someone saw one of his drawings, asked, "Is this a photo or a drawing?" and the rest is history. Since then, he has exhibited, sold his work, filled walls where there was once only empty space, and built a recognizable visual voice without needing a signature.

Hyperrealistic, yes. But only superficially. His thing isn't copying what he sees: it's insisting on what others overlook.

When Puhinger talks about art, he doesn't resort to speeches or solemnity. He talks about work, layers, mixing, and observation. That's what resonated with UNODEUNO from the very beginning: the idea that aesthetics aren't just packaging, but a consequence. And that results come from working hard, as a team, and coordinating, like a beehive. If one person moves, everyone moves. That's UNODEUNO.