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| Los Carpinteros | |
|---|---|
| Name | Los Carpinteros |
| Birth date | 1992 (collective formalization) |
| Birth place | Havana, Cuba |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Members | Carlos Garaicoa; Edgar Calero; Dagoberto Rodríguez; Marco Antonio Rodríguez; Walterio Iraheta |
| Known for | Sculpture; installation; drawing; architecture-inspired works |
Los Carpinteros were a Cuban artist collective formed in Havana, whose collaborative practice blended sculpture, drawing, architecture and design to interrogate urbanism, history and material culture. The group worked across international biennials, museums and public commissions, engaging interlocutors from Latin American art scenes to European institutions and North American galleries. Their practice intersected with debates around postmodern sculpture, neo-constructivism and site-specific installation, attracting attention from critics, curators and cultural foundations.
Founded in Havana in the early 1990s amid post-Soviet economic shifts, the collective emerged parallel to the rise of artists associated with the Soviet Union's dissolution, the Special Period in Cuba, and contemporary trajectories represented by figures such as Tania Bruguera, Coco Fusco, Belkis Ayón, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Wifredo Lam, and Ana Mendieta. Initial members trained at institutions including the Instituto Superior de Arte and engaged networks linking Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Cuba), the Cubanacán neighborhood, and Havana cultural projects associated with Casa de las Américas, Fábrica de Arte Cubano, and the Cuban Council of Fine Arts. Their early collaborations paralleled international exchanges with curators from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Tate Modern, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Museum of Modern Art, Art Basel, and the Bienal de La Habana. Membership evolved over time as artists pursued individual trajectories with ties to institutions such as Yale University, Royal College of Art, and residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Banff Centre, and Fondation Cartier.
Their work synthesized references to Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Constantin Brâncuși, and Donald Judd while dialoguing with Havana's colonial architecture, plazas like Plaza de la Revolución, and public monuments such as the José Martí Memorial. Employing carpentry, metalwork, drawing, and ceramic techniques, they combined sculpture reminiscent of Constructivism, Minimalism, Arte Povera, and Kinetic Art with performative gestures linked to practitioners like Marina Abramović and Allan Kaprow. Materials and processes engaged workshops correlated with institutions like the Centro Wifredo Lam, Fábrica de Arte Cubano, and European studios collaborating with the Serpentine Galleries and Fondation Beyeler.
Notable projects include large-scale installations that reconfigured objects into hybrid forms, echoing works by Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brâncuși, Henri Matisse, Joaquín Torres-García, and Diego Rivera. Series often referenced urban fixtures such as benches, doors, and pianos, resonating with public commissions by artists like Claes Oldenburg, Rachel Whiteread, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, and Jeff Koons. Specific projects were shown alongside seminal works by Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Gordon Matta-Clark, Eva Hesse, Bruce Nauman, and Richard Serra, situating their practice within broader sculptural dialogues examined at venues like the Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Pompidou, Stedelijk Museum, and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
They participated in major exhibitions and biennials including the Venice Biennale, São Paulo Biennial, Documenta, Biennale de Lyon, Bienal de La Habana, and shows at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Hammer Museum, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona (MACBA), Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, Hayward Gallery, Museo Tamayo, Kunsthalle Zurich, and Palais de Tokyo. Residencies included programs at the American Academy in Rome, Villa Medici, Cité Internationale des Arts, and collaborations with curators from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, National Gallery of Art, Fondation Cartier, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Critics compared their conceptual rigor to Jorge Luis Borges-inflected narrative strategies and the political satire of Eduardo Galeano, situating them in dialogues alongside Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Nicolás Guillén, Rita Dove, Octavio Paz, and scholars from Casa de las Américas and Smithsonian Institution. Reviews in outlets tied to institutions such as Artforum, Frieze, The New Yorker, The Guardian, The New York Times, and exhibition catalogues from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Centro Cultural Banco de Brasil placed them within debates about cultural production in post-revolutionary contexts and global contemporary art practices.
Works entered collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Whitney Museum, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Dallas Museum of Art, Museo Tamayo, Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), Nasher Sculpture Center, Museo de Arte de Ponce, and foundations such as the Jenny Holzer Foundation, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and Carnegie Museum of Art. Public commissions involved collaborations with municipal programs in cities like Havana, Madrid, Barcelona, New York City, Chicago, London, and Zurich.
After structural changes and members pursuing solo careers post-2013, individual artists maintained ties to institutions including Yale School of Art, Royal Academy of Arts, Harvard University, Princeton University, and continued exhibitions at venues like Tate Modern, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, SFMOMA, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and university museums including Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Art Gallery. Their legacy influenced younger artists connected to networks such as Pintura Americana, Latino Art Now, and educational programs at the Instituto Superior de Arte and inspired curators at the Museum of Latin American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and international biennials.
Category:Cuban artists