Comlurb's Arts Warehouse launches a new exhibition: "Upcycling: Your Trash Becomes Art"

A box of chocolates that became the sign for a miniature nightclub. A broken iPad that came back to life as a projection screen. A seed found on the ground and kept for two years until it became a disco ball. A chewing gum box tab that is now an ear protector for a ten-centimeter-tall construction worker. Everything would have gone to waste and became works of art in David's hands. The artist transforms discarded plastic, metal, wood, and fabric into sculptures, miniatures, furniture, and unique objects.

David collects much of his material from the street. His works have been exhibited in galleries and competitions in Brazil and abroad. He advocates for "upcycling" as a concrete way to reduce waste and raise environmental awareness. While recycling dismantles the object to make raw material, "upcycling" does the opposite: it preserves the object and promotes it. What was packaging becomes sculpture; what was a burnt piece becomes light. The object remains recognizable—and that's precisely what creates the shock. In the "SpaceX" Rocket piece, the deodorant label is still there, legible, on the body of the object. In Shimon, the worker's body is a computer mouse. At no point does the artist disguise the origin. He exposes it.

Each of David's works comes with a list of objects—what they were before—and a question: where did each one end up within the artwork? The answers aren't on the panel. They're in a QR code, which the visitor only scans after trying. The result is that you spend two to three minutes in front of each piece, looking for the peach pit that became a face, the broken marble threshold that became a bookshelf, the ointment lid that became a roll of toilet paper. The exhibition is free.

SERVICE

Opening: August 27th, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Visiting hours: From August 28th to November 13th, Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 17 pm.
Location: Galpão das Artes Urbanas Helio G. Pellegrino — Av. Padre Leonel Franca s/no, Gávea (under the Lagoa-Barra viaduct)
Free Entry
Information here