La Chola Poblete's Bread Sculptures at MUDEC Milan
Argentine artist La Chola Poblete presents bread sculptures at MUDEC in Milan as part of her Guaymallén project, running autumn 2024. The works were created in collaboration with innovative bakery Davide Longoni, using sourdough starter. Poblete, named Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year 2023, explores themes of transformation, fluid identity, and the unpredictability of natural processes. Her bread masks and anthropomorphic forms, including a Venus referencing anatomical wax models, avoid religious symbolism to focus on gender fluidity and camouflage. The artist sees bread as a living material that continues to evolve post-baking, potentially sprouting fungi in humid conditions. Poblete's practice addresses colonial legacy, indigenous activism, and LGBTQ+ issues, rooted in her Mendoza heritage.
Key facts
- La Chola Poblete is a 1989-born Argentine artist, performer, and LGBTQ+ activist from Mendoza.
- She was named Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year 2023.
- Her exhibition Guaymallén is at MUDEC Milan in autumn 2024.
- Bread sculptures were made with Davide Longoni bakery, a Milan experimental hub using sourdough and organic flours.
- The artist began bread experiments before the pandemic, using wire mesh molds.
- Bread is seen as a material with its own life, transforming unpredictably during baking.
- Masks represent camouflage and undefined identities, echoing the uncontrollable nature of dough.
- A Venus sculpture references 18th-century anatomical wax models, emphasizing transformation and fluidity.
Entities
Artists
- La Chola Poblete
Institutions
- MUDEC
- Deutsche Bank
- Davide Longoni
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Mendoza
- Argentina
- Berlin
- Germany