Los Carpinteros in Hong Kong. Exhibition (2013)

Los Carpinteros, Avenida, 2013 (triptych) Courtesy Edouard Malingue Gallery

[Editor: Link Updated 17 April 2026 to page archived on the Wayback Machine]

Los Carpinteros in Hong Kong. They may construct sculptures out of Lego blocks, but when it comes to the theoretical underpinnings of their work Los Carpinteros don’t kid around. Heteropias, the title of their first solo show in Asia, was inspired by the French philosopher Michel Foucault, who defined heteropia as a space of otherness—not one place or another but simultaneously physical and mental, like the experience of a phone call. At Edouard Malingue gallery, the Legos are confined to two dimensions, in large-scale watercolors detailing crumbling cityscapes assembled from the plastic blocks. Also on view: meticulously crafted models of openwork structures that reference Foucault’s concept of the panopticon—including a model of Güiro, the full-sized party bar made for last year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. On view through November 23.