Carlos Garaicoa - LATIN AMERICA New York Wednesday, September 29, 2010 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Galerie Farideh Cadot, Paris

  • Exhibited

    Paris, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Ni Christ, ni Marx, ni Bakounine (Neither Christ, nor Marx, nor Bakounine), October 30 - December 1, 2002; Philadelphia, Institute of Contemporary Art, Carlos Garaicoa, January 20 - March 25, 2007; Dublin, Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, Carlos Garaicoa: Architecture and Urbanism, June 10 - September 5, 2010

  • Literature


    M. Rosen, “Maison Europeenne de la Photographie,” Review Art Forum, Summer 2003; H. Block, “Carlos Garaicoa,” Bomb Magazine, Winter 2003

  • Catalogue Essay


    Carlos Garaicoa was born in Havana, Cuba in 1967. He received his training in the study of thermodynamics at the Instituto Hermanos Gomez and subsequently studied visual arts at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Cuba from 1989 to 1994. This education—rooted in mechanical work and the study of aesthetics—taught him to appreciate both the art and the science of designing and erecting buildings. With this foundation, Garaicoa began work on a series in the 1990s. Its mission: to elevate the failed architectural projects of Revolutionary Cuba to idyllic levels.
    In the wake of the Cuban Revolution, building construction was often halted or abandoned in Havana as well as other cities. The bare structures stand naked, haunting the city with silhouettes of an unfulfilled promise. Garaicoa confronts this disheartening history by resurrecting these collapsed buildings. In the series “New Architectures,” Garaicoa assembles rice paper lanterns to represent an idealized city. Each delicately crafted edifice is filled with a glowing light, alluding to a thriving metropolis from a distant future. The city stretches across wooden tables built at various levels, granting the viewer an expansive view of his city. With this artistic realization, Garaicoa provokes the question – Can artistic projects inspire the redress of real world failures?
    This series’ main purpose is not to criticize the current state of urban planning, but to provide closure for the neglected architecture of his homeland. Garaicoa explains, “I don’t think my works should be seen as impossible dreams; rather they are…gestures that point to and somehow want to solve and give continuity to projects that were never fully developed due to the state’s political and economic circumstances.” (Interview by Holly Block, Bomb Magazine. Winter, 2003).

CUBAN

152

Untitled (from the series New Architectures)

2001
Mixed media installation.
Dimensions variable.

Estimate
$50,000 - 70,000 

Sold for $56,250

LATIN AMERICA

29 September 2010
New York