José Carlos Casado

José Carlos Casado’s EAF15 installation, Trade, is inspired by the artist’s 2014 expedition in the archipelago of Svalbard, in the Arctic Circle. While there, he witnessed how the effects of extreme climate change have uncovered new routes for polar exploration, opening the floodgates to conflicts over natural resources. Casado identifies this transformation of natural resources into objects-for-trade as an act of violence against nature–a terrorism of sorts. His brightly hued metal skins, each a unique texture created through an intense 3D digital investigation of human flesh, simultaneously represent precious stones and parts of the body, linking the exploration of natural resources with human brutality and creating uncomfortable parallels between global warming, terrorism, commerce, and war.

Artist Profile

For more information on this artist, see José Carlos Casado’s Artist Profile