Did You Know About the Artist Redefining Iconic Skylines?
Alexandre Arrechea is Cuban-born visual artist based in Miami, Florida and Madrid, Spain. His work is interdisciplinary, comprising of large-scale installations, sculptures, watercolor drawings and videos. His background informs his work greatly: Arrechea was born in Trinindad, a city in Cuba that emerged as an important center of the sugar trade in the 18th century. He has used his understanding of the landscape in Cuba to create art that explores history, memory, politics and power in regards to the urban space and architecture.
He uses materials like wood, metal and fabric, and manipulates everyday objects like chairs, surveillance cameras and even a basketball hoop. When asked about architecture and urban space, Arrechea reminisced upon seeing his uncle working on a building and thinking “the building is not foreign to me, it’s part of me, it belongs to me.”
Highlights:
- Arrechea was a founding member of the acclaimed Cuban art collective Los Carpinteros that was active between 1991 and 2003. The group became known for its collaborative works that combined architecture, design, and social commentary.
- He is widely known for his public art installation “NOLIMITS” that featured distorted sculptures of iconic New York skyscrapers, such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, placed along Park Avenue.
- He attended Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana, Cuba in 1994. It is one of the most prestigious art schools in Cuba
- His work has been apart of Miami Art Basel, Frieze London, Venice Biennale in 2005, São Paulo Biennial in 2010, Gwangju Biennale in 2014 and has done the Havana Biennial for multiple years.
- Click the links to learn more about Alexandre Arrechea and his work here and on social media.
