By Meredith Deliso
Reduce, reuse, recycle, recreate.
Not familiar with that last one? For Juan Carlos Pinto, it’s all part of the artistic process.
In his current show, “Recycle and Recreate,” running through the end of the month at DIS Micro Gallery in DUMBO, the artist used spliced-up MetroCards to recreate famous portraits of such icons as Bruce Lee, John Lennon and Michael Jackson and the Mona Lisa.
The resulting pieces are more colorful than you think — there’s yellow and black, of course, but also strips of blue, green, purple, and red, thanks to special-edition MetroCards created to commemorate things like Earth Day.
This simple conceit began as a way for the artist to protest subway hikes back in 2002, and the resulting works are playful and eye-catching commentaries on transit, the environment and waste.
“The idea of using these non-biodegradable cards is to reinforce recycling and prolonging its use indefinitely while providing the artist with a source free material,” Pinto says about his work.
You too can do your part by bringing your old MetroCards to the show. The artist could always put them to good use.
“Recycle and Recreate” at DIS Micro Gallery [147 Front St. between Adams and Jay streets in DUMBO, (347) 687-0095], now through Dec. 31. Free. For info, visit www.whitetrain.com.
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