BerdsCarnival (Maraya G Lopez)
Artist Statement
BerdsCarnival = my artist name and conceptual project
Through the guise of play, my work is an exploration of the in-between spaces of our existence. What is what it seems is not what it is at all.
I am a multidisciplinary artist working across various mediums, including language, art-on-location, painting, and installation. My work explores themes of frontier, edge, and locale.
I am developing a personal symbolic language for BerdsCarnival, where works like The No Color Game serve as quiet, playful acts of resistance and open interpretation. Like an actual carnival, games such as The No Color Game are conceptually rigged and constantly evolving. Sometimes, they are presented as interactive experiences for the audience; other times, they function purely as rhetoric—serving as an entry point into the logic of the piece itself.
My work is not about inventing but being. It is neither performance nor social activism; it simply exists—ambiguous, present, and unfolding. It invites viewers into a space where meaning is never fixed, and where playful stillness allows new ways of seeing to emerge.
I have numerous influences, which I loosely categorize: For language, I draw from Coney Island, immigrant poet Martín Espada, and the people on the streets of NYC. For structure and connection, I turn to The Situationist International and Bas Jan Ader. I am also influenced by the grotesque and extreme elements of our culture that touch on death and humanity’s darker side—for example, The Big Texan Ranch Steak Eating Contest in Amarillo, Texas, where contestants attempt to eat a 72-ounce steak plus sides within an hour.
Artist Bio
BerdsCarnival (Maraya G Lopez) b.1979 in Lubbock, TX
BerdsCarnival’s projects have been exhibited at The Painting Center, A.I.R. Gallery’s 2017 Biennial, Flux Factory, Kunst Werke (KW) Gallery 7th Berlin Biennial, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in collaboration with Occupy Museums. Other notable presentations include The Six Foot Platform in Dumbo (2021), the Long Island Museum of Art (2023), and the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (2024).
In 2015, BerdsCarnival transformed a Coney Island carnival game trailer into a working studio, launching the Magic Machine, a D.I.Y. summer artist residency program. They have collaborated with numerous artists, as well as the Occupy Museums Collective, whose work explored institutional critique and invisible labor.
BerdsCarnival is a full-time security guard at The Met and teaches ESL to immigrant learners.
EDUCATION
2024-Current MA Applied Linguistics, UMass Boston - Boston, MA
2008-10 MFA Painting/Sculpture, Pratt Institute - Brooklyn, NY
2003-07 BFA Painting, University of Texas Arlington - Arlington, TX
CURRENT
2025 Come On Over Group Show, Gloria’s Project Space, New York, NY
2025 Clothesline Benefit, ABC No Rio, New York, NY
2024 What’s Not There, with Ryan Compton and Reciprocal Communiqué, Zine publication, NYC
2024 Art of Coney Island 3, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
D.I.Y. & SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 Magic Machine Artist Residency,Game trailer behind Eldorado Bumper Cars(Bump Your Ass Off),Coney Island
2014 The Debt Doll Project ,Streets of NYC,NYC
2012 Free Pussy!!, New York City Subways,NYC
2010 Berd’s Carnival:2010 Graduate Thesis Exhibition,Steuben West Gallery,Brooklyn,NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Salon des Refusés,Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition,Brooklyn,NY
2023 SOMOS/WE ARE:LatinX Artists of Long Island,Long Island Museum,NY
2022 Osmosis,Art Cake,Brooklyn,NY
2022 Shooting Freaks,Live at the Archway(Gallery),DUMBO BID,Brooklyn,NY
2021 No Color Game, Six Foot Platform, DUMBO BID, Brooklyn,NY
2017 5th Avenue SAW (Fool’s Paradise), with Maura Falfán,Long’s Wine storefront,Bay Ridge,NY
2017 A.I.R. Gallery’s 12th Biennial Exhibition, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn,NY
2016 Pratt Institute Alumni 2016 Exhibition, Pratt Institute. Brooklyn,NY
2013 Working it Out, The Painting Center,NY
GROUP EXHIBTIONS
2024 Met Museum Staff Show, Metropolitan Museum of Art,NYC
2022 Towards a Brave New World, with Art Yard Bklyn,The Gallery at 180 Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn,NY
2022 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Employee Art Exhibit, The Met Museum,NY
2022 Your Flowers Are So Lovely,They Have Made Me Well Again, Rocco´s Tacos,Brooklyn,NY
2022 More Art of Coney Island, BWAC,Brooklyn,NY
2021 Ribcage, The Grackle Art Gallery, Ft. Worth,TX
2019 Met Museum Staff Show, Metropolitan Museum of Art,NYC
2018 Fallen Heroin, El Barrio’s Art Space PS109,NYC
2018 MUAW SHOW!(Museum Union Art Show),El Barrio’s Art Space PS109,NYC
2018 Fire and Fury,Resonator Art Space, Norman,OK
2017 STATE PROPERTY, with Yasmeen Abdallah, Bronx Art Space, Bronx,NY
2017 Self Storage,Flux Factory, Long Island City,NY
2017 Whitney Biennial 2017, with Occupy Museums, Whitney Museum of Art,NYC
2017 With Something,K & P Gallery,NYC
2016 A.I.R. Gallery’s 2016 Annual Postcard Exhibition,A.I.R. Gallery,Brooklyn,NY
2015 Debtfair (with Occupy Museums),Art League Houston,Houston,TX
2015 Spring Benefit 2015,Momenta Gallery,Brooklyn,NY
2015 The Metropolitan Museum of Art Employee Art Exhibit,NY
2015 Through the Rabbit Hole,Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn,NY
2014 Generations IX, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn,NY
2013 DebtFair Artist Meetup with Occupy Museums,Abrons Arts Center,NY
2012 7th Berlin Biennial , with Occupy Museums, Kunst Werke Gallery(KW),Berlin, Germany
2010 Creativity Test,with Marilyn Jolly,Gallery 76102,Arlington,TX
AWARDS & GRANTS
2021 Residency-Six Foot Platform,Dumbo BID
2020 Grant-West Collection,Emergency Grant,Emergency Fund for Visual Artists
2010 Nomination-Dedalus Foundation Nominee for MFA Fellowship
2009 Award- Merit Scholarship,Pratt Institute
PUBLICATIONS
2024 Delightful Delirium at The Met’s Employee Art Show, Hell Gate, NYC, https://hellgatenyc.com/met-employee-art-show-best-biennial-nyc/
2015 Debt Doll Project,EPOCH WEEKEND by Epoch Times
2012 Printed Matter Art and Activist Zine Series,with Occupy Museums,NYC
2012 Swipe Magazine 3rd Edition,NYC
FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS
2018 Indiegogo-Coney Island to El Barrio, Fallen Heroin
2015 Indiegogo-Coney Island Magic Machine Artist Residency
ENTREPRENEURIAL ENDEAVORS
2018 Pop-up Coney Island In Artist Residency Program
OTHER
2018 Wonder Wheel mural, HBO Series,The Deuce, episode 2: There’s An Art to This, clip is at 20:25
Self-portrait
Location: Golden Diner
Year: 2025
Photo credit: Jacinda Lopez