Carlos Aires Biography

Carlos Aires (b. 1974, Ronda, Málaga) is a multidisciplinary artist internationally recognised for his critical vision of today's society and for his research into the representations of power. Approaching his work means opening ourselves to the possibility of a language where antagonistic elements coexist; perversion, passion, catastrophe, party, violence, desire, suffering, and death; a playful and tragic space where there is a notorious and unexpected equivalence between pain and pleasure.

Read More

Although inspired by personal experiences and obsessions, he pays special attention to the shock effect produced by contradictory and/or absurd truths that make up the conceptual fabric of our everyday fictions. He gives a semantic twist to the icons and values established by society; he re-contextualises objects, raw materials and traditions that he extracts from the great detritus of contemporary culture (vinyl records, banknotes, crockery, knives, sculptures, archive photographs, etc.); he uses the trompe l'oeil technique as a strategy to dazzle the viewer and play with his or her imaginary. His deeply conceptual work can be understood as a detailed reflection on the emerging dynamics of contemporary global culture.

After graduating in Fine Arts from the University of Granada, he furthered his training abroad, mainly in Holland, Belgium and New York, where he was quickly recognised as one of the contemporary artists with the greatest international projection. After fourteen years he returned to Spain in 2009 and set up his studio in Madrid, where he has recently promoted the Mala Fama project. He has received important awards such as Generation 2008 from Caja Madrid, and the Pont Museum Prize in Holland. He is also the first Spanish artist to receive one of the most important national awards in Belgium: Prix de la Jeune Peinture Belge in 2005.

He has participated in numerous exhibitions in national and international institutions, such as: Le Delta (Namur), CAC (Málaga), MACBA (Barcelona), Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (USA), Imperial Belvedere Palace (Vienna), Maison Particulière Art Centre (Brussels), BB6 Bucharest International Biennial of Contemporary Art (Bucharest), 5th Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki), Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil (Mexico City), Pabellón de L'Exile (Paris), Palazzo Riso-Arte Contemporaneo Museum of Palermo (Sicily), De Bond Museum (Brugge), Museum of Contemporary Art Canada (Montreal), among others.

His work can be found in important public collections, among them: CAAC (Spain), Banco de España (Spain), 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), MAK (Austria), MAK (Austria), MAK (Germany), MAK (Austria), MAK (Austria). USA), MAK (Austria, Frans Masereel Centrum (Belgium), Space Collection (Belgium), CA2M (Spain), Les Abattoirs-FRAC Occitanie (France), Benetton Foundation (Italy).

Text courtesy Sabrina Amrani.

Carlos Aires
featured artworks

View 161 More
La Mentira, From Love Song For Time Of Crisis series (Mexico Banknote) by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork works on paper, photography, mixed media
Carlos Aires La Mentira, From Love Song For Time Of Crisis series (Mexico Banknote), 2023 Cotton archival photo paper, golden pins, cardboard, gold leaf covered wooden frame, antireflective museum glass
160 x 120 x 10 cm
Zilberman Request Price & Availability
Brace/Skull II by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork sculpture
Carlos Aires Brace/Skull II, 2022 3D modelled brass sculpture, construction strut
23 x 20 x 29 cm
Zilberman Request Price & Availability
MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND XIV by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork sculpture, mixed media
Carlos Aires MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND XIV, 2024 Original banknotes from 30 richest countries in the world (based on the GDP), cardboard, golden pins, passepartout, gold leaf covered wooden frame and antireflective museum glass
150 x 180 x 10 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
Can’t take my eyes of you by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork works on paper, photography, mixed media
Carlos Aires Can’t take my eyes of you, 2024 Cotton archival photo paper, golden pins, cardboard, gold leaf covered wooden frame, antireflective museum glass
161 x 131 x 10 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
She Works Hard For The Money - Songs for times of crisis (Israel Banknote) by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork print
Carlos Aires She Works Hard For The Money - Songs for times of crisis (Israel Banknote), 2019 Print on cotton paper, golden pins, passepartout, wooden frame with golden leaf, antireflective museum glass
150.5 x 107 x 6 cm
Zilberman Request Price & Availability
Sabor A Mi - Songs for the Times of Crisis Series by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork print
Carlos Aires Sabor A Mi - Songs for the Times of Crisis Series, 2022 Print on cotton paper, golden pins, passepartout, wooden frame, with golden leaf, antireflective museum glass
160 x 130 x 7 cm
Zilberman Request Price & Availability
LEÇON DE TENEBRES XIII (LESSON OF DARKNESS XIII) by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork print, mixed media
Carlos Aires LEÇON DE TENEBRES XIII (LESSON OF DARKNESS XIII), 2023 UVI printing on gold leaf on dibond, painted wooden and aluminium frame
150 x 120 x 5 cm
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
QUAND ON N'A QUE L'AMOUR by Carlos Aires contemporary artwork photography, print
Carlos Aires QUAND ON N'A QUE L'AMOUR, 2022 Cotton archival photo paper, golden pins, cardboard, gold leaf covered wooden frame, antireflective museum glass
Sabrina Amrani Request Price & Availability
View 161 More

Carlos Aires
recent exhibitions

View 1 More
View 1 More

Represented by these
Ocula Member Galleries

Zilberman contemporary art gallery in Istanbul, Turkiye
Zilberman Berlin, Istanbul, Miami
View 1 More

Carlos Aires in
Ocula Magazine

Learn more about the market for works
by Carlos Aires.
Enquire for a confidential discussion. Enquire Now
Simon Fisher, Ocula CEO
Ocula Advisor
Simon Fisher
Christoper Taylor, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Christopher Taylor
Eva Fuchs, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Eva Fuchs
Rory Mitchell, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Rory Mitchell
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Follow Carlos Aires
Stay ahead.
7 new artworks have recently been added.
Receive updates on new artworks,
exhibitions and articles.
Your personal data is held in accordance with our privacy policy.
Follow
Do you have an Ocula account?
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Get Access
Join Ocula to request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Do you have an Ocula account? Login
What best describes your interest in art?

Subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming exhibitions, available works, events and more.
By clicking Sign Up or Continue with Facebook or Google, you agree to Ocula's Terms & Conditions. Your personal data is held in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for joining us. Just one more thing...
Soon you will receive an email asking you to complete registration. If you do not receive it then you can check and edit the email address you entered.
Close
Thank you for joining us.
You can now request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Close
Welcome back to Ocula
Enter your email address and password below to login.
Reset Password
Enter your email address to receive a password reset link.
Reset Link Sent
We have sent you an email containing a link to reset your password. Simply click the link and enter your new password to complete this process.
Login