Carlos Aires: Contemporary Artist

Carlos Aires is a multidisciplinary artist internationally recognised for his cynical vision of today's society and his research into the representations of power. Approaching his imagery involves exploring a universe where the perverse, the passionate, the catastrophic, the festive, the playful, the desiderative, the pathetic and death coexist without contradiction in the uncertain body of the beautiful. Obsessed by technical perfection, he collaborates with different craftsmen specialised in ceramics, metal, wood, etc. He is interested in drawing attention to the importance of tradition and popular wisdom in constructing our current visions of the future. Despite the slightly baroque aroma of his works, we should not overlook the fact that his work is a rather stark and heterodox revision of the Conceptual Art tradition. Terms such as fetishism, lasciviousness, catastrophe, plenitude and realism are an inseparable part of his practice.
He obtained a bachelor's in fine arts at the University of Granada in Spain. Upon graduating in 1997, he moved to Holland and completed his postgraduate studies at Fontys Academy (Tilburg, Holland), HISK (Antwerp, Belgium) and Ohio State University (USA).
Aires has received numerous recognitions throughout his career. He was honored with prestigious grants and awards, including the: OMI Residency (USA), Edith Fergus Gilmore Award (USA), Generation 2008 Caja Madrid (Spain), Young Belgian Art Prize (Belgium), 1st Award Young Andalusian Artists (Spain), Fulbright (USA), Walter Debrock Prize (Belgium), Manuel Rivera Grant (Spain) and De Pont Atelier (Holland). He has participated in numerous exhibitions in national and international institutions, such as: Le Delta (Namur), CAC (Malaga), MACBA (Barcelona), Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (USA), Imperial Belvedere Palace (Vienna), Maison Particulière Art Center (Brussels), BB6 Bucharest International Biennale for Contemporary Art (Bucharest), 5th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki), Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil (Mexico City),Pavilion de L'Exile (Paris), Palazzo Riso-Contemporary Art Museum of Palermo (Sicily) De Bond Museum, (Brugge),Canada Contemporary Art Museum (Montreal), among others.
His work can be found within significants public collections, noteworthy examples include: CAAC (Sevilla), Banco de España (Madrid), ARTIUM (Spain), MACBA (Spain), Fondation Francès (France), ARTER (Turkey), CAC (Spain), Maison Particulière (Belgium), Museum Biedermann (Germany), Progress Art, (Saudi Arabia), Caja Madrid Collection (Spain), National Belgium Bank (Belgium), 21c Museum (USA), MAK (Austria), CAAC (Spain), Frans Masereel Centrum (Belgium), Space Collection (Belgium).