{"id":946,"date":"2026-03-07T13:31:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T14:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/?p=946"},"modified":"2026-04-24T16:24:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T16:24:26","slug":"alvaro-urbano-suspends-fleeting-moments-of-decay-in-metal-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/07\/alvaro-urbano-suspends-fleeting-moments-of-decay-in-metal-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c1lvaro Urbano Suspends Fleeting Moments of Decay in Metal Plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\u00c1lvaro<\/p>\n

Anyone who\u2019s decried the seasonal blip we call autumn knows how rapidly nature can swing from verdant greenery to leafless branches. The same goes for the missed watering of an overlooked houseplant: skip a week and bear witness to browning edges that curl into a crisp. As quickly as these natural changes occur, so do their remedies or downfalls, and soon we\u2019re spotting new buds or depositing the evidence of our negligence in the compost bin.<\/p>\n

For \u00c1lvaro Urbano<\/a>, the brief period between blossom and decay is one to be preserved. He sculpts common plants from metal, casting vulnerable life forms into a sturdy material and rendering their colors and textures in paint. It\u2019s an act of making \u201csmall monuments of things that normally would disappear or change in a few days, or in minutes,\u201d the artist says.<\/p>\n

\"a
\u201cTABLEAU VIVANT (Dogwood)\u201d (2024), metal and paint, 175 x 125 x 88 centimeters. Photo by Marjorie Brunet Plaza, courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drawing on theater and architecture, Urbano is deeply interested in creating not only standalone works but immersive scenes. His sculptures often leave a trail of leaves on the floor or appear to grow directly from the stark gallery wall, their knotted branches jutting out into the space. \u201cThe viewer can enter these situations as if they are witnesses (to) a scene that has already started,\u201d the artist adds.<\/p>\n

Urbano lives and works between Paris and Berlin and has work on view in the latter at Spore Initiative<\/a>. Find more on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a
Installation view of \u2018A\u0301lvaro Urbano: GRANADA GRANADA\u2019 (2023), Travesi\u0301 a Cuatro, Mexico City. Photo by Ramiro Chaves, courtesy of the artist and Travesi\u0301 a Cuatro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"two
\u201cHotel Gazmira (Musa acuminata)\u201d (2025), metal and paint, 200 x 35 x 37 centimeters. Photo by Marjorie Brunet Plaza, courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Detail of \u201cHotel Gazmira (Musa acuminata)\u201d (2025)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
\u201cIn\u00e9s\u201d (2025), metal and paint, 50 x 35 x 125 centimeters. Photo by Marjorie Brunet Plaza, courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Installation view of \u2018A\u0301lvaro Urbano: GRANADA GRANADA\u2019 (2023), Travesi\u0301 a Cuatro, Mexico City. Photo by Ramiro Chaves, courtesy of the artist and Travesi\u0301 a Cuatro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Installation view of \u2018A\u0301lvaro Urbano: GRANADA GRANADA\u2019 (2023), Travesi\u0301 a Cuatro, Mexico City. Photo by Ramiro Chaves, courtesy of the artist and Travesi\u0301 a Cuatro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article \u00c1lvaro Urbano Suspends Fleeting Moments of Decay in Metal Plants<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone who\u2019s decried the seasonal blip we call autumn knows how rapidly nature can swing from verdant greenery to leafless branches. The same goes for the missed watering of an overlooked houseplant: skip a week and bear witness to browning edges that curl into a crisp. As quickly as these natural changes occur, so do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":969,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions\/969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cpetzold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}