Carlos Betancourt, Carlos Betancourt Sculpture Spray Paint Painting Miami Latin American Modern Art, c.2000

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Carlos Betancourt, American (Born 1966) Abstract Sculpture Spray Paint and hand Painted Sculptural Wall Applique. Hand signed. Dimensions: 28.75" x … Read more Carlos Betancourt, American (Born 1966) Abstract Sculpture Spray Paint and hand Painted Sculptural Wall Applique. Hand signed. Dimensions: 28.75" x 26.5" Three dimensional neo primitive wall relief I believe this is from The Sounds Symbols Project (2000), a monumental ephemeral installation in the sand in Miami Beach. Carlos Betancourt (born San Juan, Puerto Rico 1966) is an American multi-disciplinary artist. His artworks explore issues of memory, and his own experiences, while also dwelling in issues of nature, the environment and matters of beauty, identity and communication. He has worked as a curator, furniture designer and has collaborated in with Louis Vuitton as well as on architectural and site-specific private and public commissions with architect Alberto Latorre. Betancourt artwork is in part inspired by his relationship with nature as well as by the diverse cultures and history of the Caribbean basin, Florida and the Americas. Also by artist Ana Mendieta interventions, Robert Rauschenberg assemblages, Andy Warhol perceptions, Neo Rauch compositions, and a Federico Fellini-esque cast of characters for his photo assemblages. Additionally, he relates to some of theorist Jean Baudrillard views about art and his philosophy on objects; French artist Gustave Courbet's idea that "the only possible source for living art is the artist's own experiences", as well as the Martinican writer and theoretician, Edouard Glissant's belief that ..."the past resides in material objects that only release their hidden meanings when encountered imaginatively and sensuously. Betancourt admires the works of diverse artists such as Fernando Oller, Cisco Jimenez, Bill Viola, Marilyn Minter, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Félix González-Torres, Jeff Koons and Arnaldo Roche. Betancourt's oeuvre also explores the kaleidoscope (multi- racial, multi-lingual, trans-cultural) of Caribbean and American culture. His work is also known for his glitzy bravado, re-introducing glitter and other colored materials to contemporary art. His ways of bending the lines between art, photography and nature in his large format vinyls, photographs, installations and photo performances are considered highly innovative. Betancourt's personal journey—physical, emotional, and intellectual—is the creative force behind his work. Born and raised in Puerto Rico to Cuban parents, he developed a love for nature and the rainforest and a passionate interest in the syncretic cultures and traditions of the Caribbean, including its Taíno culture heritage. Like Caribbean culture, some of Betancourt's work is a syncretic layering of information against the intensity of the lush tropics. After saving money for three years, he purchased by mail order catalog his first camera, a Canon AE-1. He was twelve years old. He took pictures of landscapes and of his friends and used the photographs to create collages and as reference for oil and acrylic paintings. During this time, he was also a young painting student of Puerto Rican cubist artist Jorge Rechany in his studio in San Juan. As a young teen, Betancourt moved to Miami with his parents on December 31, 1980. The clashing of diverse cultures as well as the convergence of diverse architectural and design styles immediately influenced him. He studied at Miami Coral Park Senior High School and during this time he quickly became involved in art projects, volunteering in artists Christo and Jeanne Claude world-renowned Surrounded Islands monumental installation (1983) in Biscayne Bay and Miami Beach. While in Miami, Christo and Jeanne Claude stayed in an Art Deco hotel in the now famous Ocean Drive, Miami Beach. Betancourt's assistant Terry D' Amico, coined the term MiMo, for Miami Modernist architecture. Working with the preservation league had a big impact on Betancourt’s early artwork. He opened his studio, Imperfect Utopia, in Miami Beach right after art school and while volunteering for the preservation league. It was first located in Washington Avenue in the back room of a vintage store called Heydays and next door to The Strand, an edgy restaurant that attracted the likes of all creative types, including artist David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Keith Haring as well as Paloma Picasso during the Miami Beach underground years. His studio, Imperfect Utopia became the Bohemian underground address of the artistic melting pot that was Miami Beach in the 80's and 90's, challenging the established art community and provoking new ideas. The studio was visited by some of the most important artists, writers, poets, architects, dancers and musicians of the period, including Julian Schnabel, Sandra Bernhard, Gianni Versace, Morris Lapidus, Liz Balmaseda, Octavio Paz, Celia Cruz, Rudolph Nureyev, Bruce Weber and the late Cab Calloway, who was hosted during a special event by the artist and the Miami Design Preservation League. Imperfect Utopia was in part instrumental in the Miami and Miami Beach renaissance and for creating a contemporary arts environment in Miami and Miami Beach. During the Imperfect Utopia years, an on until the late 1990's, the artist was part of the influential South Florida Art Center based in Miami Beach, Florida. The studios and main offices were located within walking distance of the artist studio. Betancourt exchanged ideas, collaborated and/or exhibited with some of the artist of the center as well as the Española Art Center, including Craig Coleman, Carlos Alves and Kenny Scharf amongst others. His next studio in downtown became also an experimental ground for young artists like Martin Oppel, Bhakti Baxter and Daniel Arsham, who the artist had mentored a couple of years before. Betancourt produced a series of acrylic and mixed media works on canvas during this time, titled Images of Heaven, were he explore probably for the last time directly, the concept of Fracturism. These works eventually lead to the exhibit by the same name at St. Thomas University Gallery in Miami. The artist when on to experiment with three dimensional wall assemblages rooted more in the neo-primitive as a way of finding art in the archaic. This is best expressed with The Sounds Symbols Project (2000), a monumental ephemeral installation in the sand in Miami Beach. The installation made news internationally. It uses a sort of hieroglyphics and abstract biomorphic shapes similar to the monumental Michele oka Doner work at the Miami airport. Between paintings and installations, he continued experimenting with photography eventually producing the first large format vinyls with the series The Worshipping of Our Ancestors and Interventions in Nature. He eventually moved to Wynwood. Betancourt’s work was represented by Robert Miller Gallery in NY. ''Carlos Betancourt: Imperfect Utopia'' was published by Skira Rizzoli books. During Art Basel MB 2016, The Pelican Passage Tide by Side, a large artwork commissioned to the artist by Faena Arts District in celebration of the opening of Rem Koolhaas Faena Forum, was chosen as Condé Nast Vogue magazine top five Art Basel artworks. The artist new studio, designed in collaboration with architect Alberto Latorre, is located in Little River, Miami Beach. See less