A beautiful but wilting flower hangs in a noose, an egg sits next to an eight ball, and caviar enfolds excrement. Wilfredo Prieto’s works use simple, precise juxtapositions to tease out intriguing, open-ended metaphors. He often employs basic materials, projecting a certain poetry that at times recalls Minimalism and Arte Povera. Born and educated in Cuba, Prieto sees through a different, hard-toplace lens. His mysterious take on things and his ability to express ideas without necessarily stating them in words give him fresh insights into the role of art in late capitalism, fueling an oblique critique of the social instability spilling out of American politics and threatening to overwhelm the world.
Robert Preece: For me, Sin título (Mierda y Caviar) (2011) symbolizes our current era of excess, dysfunctional government, doom and gloom, and instability—with a muchneeded touch of humor. Could you explain its original context? …see the entire article in the print version of May’s Sculpture magazine.
