Works by the internationally acclaimed Cuban art group Los Carpinteros are currently on view in Automatic Cities: The Architectural Imaginary in Contemporary Art, an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD). Featuring work by thirteen international artists, the show explores the influence of architecture and urbanism on contemporary art, and ways that the utopias and anti-utopias of architects and engineers have affected the artistic imagination since the times of Le Corbusier, Philip Johnson, and Buckminster Fuller.
Along with Los Carpinteros, featured artists include Michaël Borremans (Belgium), Matthew Buckingham (US), Catharina van Eetvelde (France), Jakob Kolding (Germany), Ann Lislegaard (Denmark), Matthew Ritchie (US), Hiraki Sawa (UK), and Rachel Whiteread (UK). The works include painting, sculpture, video, wall drawings, posters, and architectural interventions.
In writing about the show, San Diego University Professor of Urban Planning Larry Herzog praised Los Carpinteros for “their surreal images and sculptures that blend humor and irony.” He singled out Piscina doméstica as a fittingly ironic contrast to the suburban sprawl that characterizes so much of the US these days.
The exhibition runs through January 31.
