Carlos Otero

Carlos Otero is an architect, designer, and artist based in New York. His hand-built stoneware sculptures, wall murals, lamps, and vessels incorporate global architectural vernaculars, ranging from Le Corbusier and Brutalist vocabularies of 20th century modernism to the ancient mud brick structures of Mali, the architectural effigies found at Andean archeological sites, and the vast built complexes of Machu Picchu. His work emphasizes the natural speckling and rough textures of clay intermingled with playful reliefs, perforations, and patterning. References to animal figurines appear prominently, reminiscent of pre-Colombian artifacts and their combinations of functional form with representations of nature, gods, and ritual mythologies. Elsewhere, Otero foregrounds the interplay of abstract forms, jagged zigzagging silhouettes, projecting cones, and round, window-like openings that reveal interior cavities and allow light to penetrate and illuminate his objects. Otero approaches his three-dimensional projects with an architect’s eye, sketching and drafting by hand before commencing to sculpt. His densely-layered pen and ink drawings vibrate in a tumultuous skein of crosshatched lines that remains consistent with his ceramic sensibility.

Born and raised in Argentina, Otero studied architecture at the University of Buenos Aires. In 1996, he relocated to New York City where he founded the interior architecture firm Carlos Otero Design, Inc. Otero’s interests shifted toward the fine arts in 2010, and he spent two years in Hong Kong intensifying his study of ceramics. His work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and The Wall Street Journal, and his work is included in numerous private collections.