Gabriel Kuri’s sculptures often employ everyday objects and remnants of human interactions, such as plastic bags, receipts, coins, and cigarette butts, which he combines with industrial materials such as cement, steel, and insulation rolls. His practice combines the principles of minimalism with a reflection on consumer culture, ordering different colors, textures and elements until patterns and connections emerge between their forms and uses. Created in the early 2000s, the Quick Standards series incorporates wooden sticks and aluminum-lined thermal emergency blankets. The covers, attached to the posts, make reference to the banners that are often improvised in political demonstrations and protests. The improbable union of these materials results in a kind of protest without text or images. The silver covering of the blankets serves as a mirror, reflecting a distorted image of their surroundings and the people who look on them.

Image: Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City / New York