DaWire

Tomás Saraceno, Galaxies forming along filaments, like droplets around the strands of a spider’s web

Biospheres is the term used by Saraceno for his floating, transparent globes. Taking a metaphorical, poetic approach to serious subjects such as the overpopulation of Earth, environmental issues and migration, Saraceno attempts to create new relations between culture and nature. The biospheres of this work are inspired by careful scientific studies of e.g. the formation of clouds, soap bubbles and the geometric principles in spider webs. Several of the spheres contain plant-based ecosystems, while the largest of them invites spectators to step inside.[...]

Quisqueya Henriquez, A Heap of Paradise  2007. PVC tubes and rubber, dimensions variable, each of 40 tubes is 115 inches long by 1 inch wide. Image courtesy of David Castillo Gallery.

There are few women artists from the Caribbean islands that approach conceptual art with Caribbean flavor such as Quisqueya Henriquez. Drawing from a heavily researched art historical context, Henriquez creates works that provide a critical perspective on gender, regional clichés and ethnic stereotypes, with a sophisticated and elegant aesthetic.[...]

Alexandre Arrechea – Metropolitan Tower 2010

A former member of the collective Los Carpinteros, Alexandre Arrechea has been carving his own niche in the contemporary art radar since leaving the group in 2003. And his work is definitely being noticed. Last March, he showed a large-scale public art project in Times Square titled Black Sun, a 3D animated wrecking ball that continuously hit the NASDAQ Billboard. His work deals with our obsession with control, surveillance systems and the power structures.

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Zipora Fried, Chère Maman, 2008. Wood table and bottles.

Zipora Fried is best known for her large-scale graphite drawings in which she immerses herself in a creative process that may last months, drawing over a large scroll of paper that can reach up to 28ft long. But she also creates intellectual sculptures and installations from everyday objects such as tables and chairs.[...]

The Red Situation B , felt and sewing materials, 300 x 80 x 15 cm., 2007. Image via La Nube Loca.

Johanna Unzueta’s uses felt as a sculptural material to build structures and objects that bring attention to the history of labor. For her series of “industrial sculptures”, Unzueta was inspired by the photographs of Bernd and Hilla Becher, constructing factories, mills, water towers and houses.[...]

Christopher Cozier‘s work focuses mostly on Caribbean narratives or small quotidien gestures that can also present political and social questionings. His installation at the 2009 San Juan Poly/Graphic Triennial Available at All Leading Stores is not your typical Caribbean inspired work. Instead, it displays a sentiment that carries the weight of politics and globalization. The installation is comprised of assembled cardboard boxes labeled with the word ‘fear’ and placed on a pallet seemingly ready for immediate transportation.[...]

Gunilla Klingberg has gained international attention for her installations dealing with the viral aspects of visual language and our collective unconscious in the realm of contemporary consumer culture. With one foot in a critique of consumerism and the other anchored in a strong interest in spiritualism she distorts the familiar in such a way that a supermarket logo becomes a mantric chant.[...]

Panamarenko (Antwerp, 1940) is an exceptional and unclassifiable figure in contemporary art, who has been described as ‘one of the great creators of the end of the century’.[...]

Organic perishable materials such as food, liquids and other everyday products are the construct of Michel Blazy’s body of work. His installations are living sculptures that transform and mutate with the passage of time, decomposing, growing and destroying themselves in the process.  It is a reflection on time that seeks to explore the relationship between the environment, the work and the spectator’s reaction.[...]