Artist Transforms Everyday Objects into Quirky and Surreal Sculptures

jaime pitarch contemporary art

Subject, Object, Abject (2006) – Chair, wooden shavings from chair legs

Spanish artist Jaime Pitarch puts an unconventional twist on everyday materials for his cutting-edge artworks. Based in Barcelona, Pitarch has been manipulating household items for years, transforming your common chair or wire coat hanger into a contemporary sculpture.

By re-contextualizing these objects, he asks viewers to re-evaluate their functions and how we relate to them on a daily basis. Pitarch describes his work as mainly having to do with “the human being’s inability to identify with the structures he himself has created.” The Spencer Brownstone Gallery in New York, which represents the artist, points out that when stripped of their functionality, we as viewers are able to step into the alternate narrative Pitarch has created.

There's something poetic and melancholy about these contemporary sculptures, as if seeing them in a new light enhances the absurdity of our attachment to them. With Pitarch's manipulations, they are no longer functional objects, but pieces to admire for their form. Reassembled like puzzle pieces, the innovative sculptures ask us to reconsider the everyday materials we surround ourselves with.

jaime pitarch contemporary art

Hung (1997) – Modified coat hanger

jaime pitarch everyday materials in art

Vegetable With Prosthesis (2009) – Crutches and potted plant

jaime pitarch contemporary art

Momentum (2009) – Deconstructed and reconstructed aluminum ladder

jaime pitarch everyday materials in art

Broom (2009) – modified broom

jaime pitarch everyday materials in contemporary art

Momentum #14 (2006) – Deconstructed and reassembled chair, teacup

jaime pitarch contemporary sculpture

Nowhere to Nowhere #2 (2006) – Deconstructed and rebuilt door

jaime pitarch everyday materials in contemporary art

Cyclops (2002) – Modified eye glasses

h/t: [BOOOOOOOM]

All images via Spencer Brownstone Gallery.

Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Contributing Writer and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book 'Street Art Stories Roma' and most recently contributed to 'Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini'. You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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