Carlos Bunga

Published on the occasion of the new Whitechapel Gallery commission for 2020 by Portuguese artist Carlos Bunga, who creates dynamic site-specific ephemeral structures.

Originally training as a painter, Carlos Bunga (b. 1976 Porto, lives and works in Barcelona) uses mass-produced materials such as cardboard, adhesive tape, and household paint to produce large-scale installations. Created in dialogue with the existing architectural space, these ephemeral structures recall theatre sets, architectural models, or temporary shelters, inviting viewers to rethink their physical and emotional experience of space and architecture. By giving equal importance to creation and destruction, he also evokes the fragile nature of urban structures, with the traces of his works bringing to mind dispossession and the symbolic potential of ruins.

For his new commission at Whitechapel Gallery the artist will create two different painted structures that will shift during the course of exhibition, creating a new construction that can be seen from four viewing areas with other objects and works in conversation with the space. This gesture will be complemented by inviting dancers to respond to the space before and after its transfer.

The fully illustrated catalogue will include new installation photography documenting the commission.