Carlos Bunga, Architecture of Life
Carlos Bunga
Architecture of Life
‘My project is a kind of architecture; it’s not a real space but a mental idea.’ Carlos Bunga’s (b.1976) sculptural and painterly structures propose architecture as body and mindscape.
Carlos Bunga grew up near Lisbon, Portugal, and studied Painting at Escola Superior de Artes e Design in Caldas da Rainha – an edgy and alternative university where several artists from his generation studied and produced their first works. His work first gained prominence in 2004, as part of Manifesta 5 in San Sebastian, where he created his first large-scale ephemeral installation, purposely destroyed during the opening of the show. He currently lives and works near Barcelona, Spain.
This exhibition begins with a small model of social housing where the artist grew up - and later watched being demolished. It is the beginning of a journey from the miniature to the monumental. The show documents Bunga’s gigantic constructions which he creates and destroys as a performance; and is animated by short films of his interactions with the material world, constituting the first major survey of his work. The artist also premieres three new installations created especially for MAAT that immerse the viewer in a complex spatial experience.
Throughout his oeuvre, Bunga has been drawn to the strong yet lightweight properties of cardboard. As well as constructing spaces, he also uses it to make model-like sculptures of fantastical domestic objects and habitats. These are presented against the backdrop of his epically scaled, monochrome paintings. His works combine a powerful materiality with the evocation of psychic states.
Enacting cycles of construction and destruction, Bunga explores states of dispossession and nomadism; the nature of spatial experience; and the creative and symbolic potential of ruins.
This exhibition is presented in parallel with a display of Carlos Bunga’s works on paper, at the Carmona e Costa Foundation, in Lisbon.
