The Joyful Cities Of Bodys Isek Kingelez
Using everything from soda cans to matchboxes, the Congolese artist crafted utopian dioramas, now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
The Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez had a vision of the future — and he built it out of soda cans, bottle caps, cookie packages, matchboxes, colored paper and corrugated cardboard.
More than 30 of his wildly colorful architectural models are now on display in "Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams," a new exhibit at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
The artist (1948–2015) sculpted fancifully shaped buildings and metropolises decorated with all manner of arcs, curves and ornamental flourishes.
But look more carefully and you also see a visionary urban planner at work. Kingelez's small-scale sculptures reimagine the sprawling urban spaces of his country's capital, Kinshasa,
