Alexandre Arrechea: Herramienta Desnuda (Bare Tool)

A new multimedia installation invites visitors to consider how even the smallest actions can reverberate across social and cultural landscapes. On view from November 23 through January 18 at Locust Projects, Alexandre Arrechea: Herramienta Desnuda (Bare Tool) builds on the simple act of a stone skipping across water as a central metaphor, examining the ways in which individual gestures can spark broader transformations. Divided into three thematic acts—“The Tool,” “The Action,” and “The Implications”—this immersive experience encourages audiences to reflect on how personal choices, movements and interventions may shape the world around them.

Within the gallery, suspended sculptures, moveable floor elements and video projections create an environment that integrates both digital and physical components. Visitors encounter a layered narrative in which Arrechea incorporates footage of his son, Arturo, playing in a park, juxtaposing familial intimacy with the broader symbolism of shared spaces. As participants navigate the installation, their presence and perspective serve as catalysts, activating the metaphorical “ripples” that influence the evolving dialogue between personal experience and collective impact.

Supported as a Knight Digital Commission with major contributions from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, as well as a National Endowment for the Arts Art Works Grant, this exhibition sets the stage for multiple activations. In addition to Locust Projects’ Annual Benefit Dinner and a newly commissioned performance during Miami Art Week, the space provides a platform for ongoing engagement and conversation.

About the Artist:
Born in Trinidad, Cuba, and educated at Havana’s Instituto Superior de Arte, Alexandre Arrechea lives and works between Madrid and Miami. He is known for employing diverse media—ranging from large-scale installations and sculptures to watercolor drawings and videos—to probe themes such as history, memory, politics and the sociocultural significance of architectural forms. Early in his career, Arrechea was a founding member of the Cuban collective Los Carpinteros (1991–2003) before venturing into a solo practice that has been recognized worldwide.

His notable projects include Nolimits (2013), a series of ten sculptures along New York’s Park Avenue inspired by iconic city buildings, as well as Katrina Chairs (2016) at the Coachella Music Festival in Palm Springs, California. In 2020, during Miami Art Week, Arrechea unveiled Dreaming with Lions at Faena Miami Beach, an immersive forum-like installation symbolizing collective resilience. His work has evolved to incorporate digital and Web3 elements, such as the Hexagon Garden for Superblue (2022), commissioned by Balmain, and collaborations with the Birmingham Royal Ballet for Black Sabbath: The Ballet in 2023.

Arrechea’s practice often involves dissecting the architectural anatomy of spaces, exposing hidden decisions and ideological frameworks that shape societal structures. His first solo museum exhibition, “Intersected Horizons” (2023) at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California, further explored these intersections, blending art, history and archaeology. Arrechea’s works are held in prestigious collections worldwide, including the Reina Sofía (Madrid), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Brooklyn Museum (New York), and Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles). Most recently, his show “Uncharted Surfaces” opened at LnS Gallery in Miami (October 4–November 23, 2024), reflecting his ongoing commitment to exploring spatial, social and cultural narratives through art.