Artist Response:

Los Carpinteros

            “Los Carpinteros" is a Cuban artist collective created in 1992 including Marco Castillo, Dagoberto Rodríguez, and Alexandro Arrechea (who left the group in 2003). Marco and Dagoberto both work in Havana, Cuba and in Madrid, Spain.

            The artists were born and raised in Cuba, a country crippled by communist and socialist struggles. As many art supplies were hard to come by, the three often used wood from abandoned buildings as a medium, which is why they called themselves Los Carpinteros or “The Carpenters.” This name, coined in 2004, also signified the group’s choice to forfeit individual ownership of their works.

            Much of their work is influenced_­­ by Cuban culture, and seeks to address the problems facing Cuba (and the world) today. The artists also draw inspiration from architecture and everyday objects. Large gouache and watercolor realist drawings of objects are at the core of their work and often foreshadow their sculptural works.

            Los Carpinteros combine elements of design, architecture, and sculpture to create their humorous and uncanny installations. Their work undermines the practicality and usefulness of objects and ideas in order to criticize historical  and cultural ideals of utopianism.