Los Carpinteros

Los Carpinteros is the name taken by a group of young Cuban artists who as a collective entity specialize in the creation of humorous installations and objects. In 1991 Marco Antonio Castillo Valdes, Dagoberto Rodriguez Sanchez, and Alexandre Arrechea formed what would become Los Carpinteros—however they didn’t adopt the name until 1994, “deciding to renounce the notion of individual authorship and refer back to an older guild tradition of artisans and skilled laborers.”[1] However, by 2003, Alexandre Arrechea decided to leave the threesome, leaving Marco and Dagoberto to be the duo behind the name. Both Marco and Dagoberto were born in Cuba and today they live and work in Havana. They have exhibited in their native land, Europe and North America, and have received a number of prestigious awards.

In their work the artists incorporate aspects of architecture, design and sculpture to create installations and drawings that “negotiate the space between the functional and the nonfunctional",[2] where they derive their “inspiration from the physical world”[3] and express their interest in the intersection of art and society in a humorous manner. What Los Carpinteros create is very much a conscientious response to places, spaces and objects, how they have been conceived, built, used and abandoned.[4] Between personal exposures are those made in the 90s in the ' "Centro de Arte 23 y 12" Cuba. They have been exhibited the U.S. at "The New Museum of Contemporary Art" and the "Contemporary Art Center", in New York City, New York, "Grant Selwyn Fine Arts" in Los Angeles, California, in Spain at the International Contemporary Art Fair ARCO'98, Madrid and Art Basel Miami where for the 2012 edition of the fair they built the "Güiro Art Bar".[5] They held their first solo exhibition in Asia, 'Heterotopias', at Edouard Malingue Gallery in 2013.[6] Los Carpinteros are represented by Sean Kelly Gallery.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.skny.com/artists/los-carpinteros/
  2. ↑ http://www.skny.com/artists/los-carpinteros/
  3. ↑ http://www.skny.com/artists/los-carpinteros/
  4. ↑ http://www.edouardmalingue.com/en/artists/29/los-carpinteros/
  5. ↑ http://www.archdaily.com/309698/guiro-art-bar-los-carpinteros-absolut-art-bureau/
  6. ↑ SCMP 48 hrs Magazine, “Art Preview: Los Carpinteros Turn Confusion Into An Art Form”, October 23 2013

External links