Meet Carolina Fontoura
Carolina Fontoura is a Mexican-Brazilian artist who just opened her first solo show, 'Connect,' at Upper Playground Mexico. Her chandeliers and lamps are made entirely from recycled bicycle parts, and aside from their delicate yet heavy hitting aesthetics the comments they lay down about DIY culture, class structures, power dynamics, reclaimed agency, and ecological responsibility are deeply embedded in each piece.
In 2007 Carolina Fontoura finished the Digital Art Program at Metropolitan State College of Denver and now she works in a variety of mediums such as sculpture, painting, photography, graphic, fashion and jewelry design. In her work Carolina integrates her hybrid identity, global perspective and socio-political interests.
This body of work draws inspiration from Victorian chandeliers, DIY and bike culture, the use of ‘unartistic’ materials, and the artists experience with alter-globalization activism. Her work addresses class codes, power dynamics, reclaimed agency, and ecological responsibility.
The bicycle chandelier is the conceptual point of departure for this series. In this series the traditional chandelier is seen as a bourgeois commodity and the bicycle parts as a symbol for self-propelled movement. These subversive objects challenge the aesthetics of wealth by visually contrasting the classic elegance of the candelabrum with the newfound elegance of discarded, mechanical bicycle parts.
WHAT: Carolina Fontoura's "Connect"
WHEN: The show will remain on view through August 1st.
WHERE: Upper Playground Mexico. Amatlán 105, Mexico City.
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