Sculpture

Pires uses various materials, media and everyday objects carefully selected from different environments to create space for new relationships and meanings. Kaluanda was inspired by the local art community in Johannesburg, as well as the city itself. He confronts the banality of plastic containers with the gallery or museum space to, in his words, “explore the dialogue between these objects and the viewer.” Indeed, by turning commonplace materials into a human figure, he invites viewers to face reflections of themselves: “I tend to use copies of real-life people and cover them with these materials, creating something like a new skin or armour that gives them a new identity.”

Pedro Pires divides his time between Luanda in Angola and Lisbon. His work explores questions about identity and stereotypes in respect to education and institutions. This particular interest comes from his mixed African and European cultural heritage.