Sculptor’s remedy is to turn pandemic waste into art

MARCELO Toledo usually creates sculptures and jewellery out of metal. Now the Argentinian artist is working with waste masks and syringes from the Covid-19 pandemic to create an exhibition exploring the painful impact of the virus.

Toledo, who has made jewellery for the musical Evita on Broadway and unique pieces for Barack Obama and Madonna, was among the first in Argentina to contract Covid-19 a year ago, which left him hospitalised for eight days with pneumonia.

The experience left an imprint on his life and triggered a flurry of artworks, including a 14m mask with the Argentine flag on the iconic Obelisk in Buenos Aires to raise awareness about organ donation during the pandemic. For his new exhibition, Museum of

the After, Toledo is collecting recycled coronavirus waste sent by hospitals, laboratories and random people. It includes old vaccines and newspaper clippings about the pandemic.

“I’m excited to be able to transform pain into beauty. This exhibition is capturing everything happening to us as a society,” Toledo, 45, said in his workshop in San Telmo, Buenos Aires.

The artworks will go on show from September in downtown Buenos Aires, all made from “disposable materials or garbage that people send me”.

In the exhibition a real ship symbolically crosses a “storm” and there are recycling islands to raise awareness about the importance of caring for the environment.