Brooklyn artist Juan Carlos Pinto uses discarded MetroCards to create works of art.
In a discreet studio in Flatbush, magic is happening. Since 2002, Juan Carlos Pinto has been transforming expired and discarded MetroCards into forms, shapes, and even portraits of famous New Yorkers. Clippings of the old cards are pasted to his canvas and the blues, yellows, blacks and whites from the card form the base of each piece or portrait.
The MTA will begin to phase out MetroCards within the next few years and Pinto’s artwork showcases ways that artists and amateurs alike can get creative with recycling the current ones we all have in our wallets. According to the artist’s website, he focuses on issues such as human and animal rights and environmental preservation. As such, he uses the MetroCards to combine “a dual world of playfulness and social responsibility.” That mission definitely shows in his work. Most of Pinto’s media comes from salvaged material, found objects and non-biodegradable plastics like the MetroCards.
Take a look at some of his awesome work below!
You can find more information about the mosaics and the artist on his website.
Featured image: flatbushartists.org