Carlos Mercado

Fumando Esperan, ca. 2020 Mixed media on canvas , 23k gold leaf, edition 1/7

2020

Carlos Mercado Self-taught artist. Mercado has taken part in more than a dozen group and solo exhibitions in Puerto Rico and the United States since 1989. Considered a conceptual artist more than a painter and designer, he is influenced by Pop and Experimental art. His early works included impressions of his own body on cloth, which he achieved by drenching himself entirely in paint. He later worked with mixed media and collages and subsequently with abstraction. Within the Pop style, he has worked on portraits that capture the essence and feelings of the model. Mercado is highly committed with his work. The fundamental aspects of this artist production are grounded in his dedication to the medium as well as his compromise with his point of view. The search for new ways of expression has leaded him to gradual changes in his point of view and stylistic modifications. In the last years he has explored big format art installations in open air spaces in Fuerte San Cristobal and Dorado Beach Ritz Reserve Puerto Rico in collaboration with Arte Fitts foundation . In may 2023 Mercado opened a Gallery space in Madrid in the prestigious zone Salesas, the new Soho of Madrid . Mercado is the cultural ambassador for the Tourism company of Puerto Rico , promoting cultural tourism and international exchange of artist from Puerto Rico and Spain . Carlos Mercado b.1958, Ponce, Puerto Rico