Felipe Lira (b.1988) is a multidisciplinary Chilean artist based in Berlin, Germany. Born in Chile’s capital, Santiago, Lira first developed an interest in art as a child, when introduced to it by his older sister. Having initially pursued university studies to become an actor, he soon moved to art school after the second year. Throughout these formative early years of adulthood, Lira was also honing his craft as a tattoo artist — one that serves him to this day.

Relocating to Berlin with his family in 2019, Lira has continued to develop his artistic repertoire with installation, sculpture and works in paint. In 2023 he presented his debut exhibition Every Morning in an intimate event at Neukölln tattoo studio AKA Berlin, where he is often found working. This body of work explores material belonging to the world of grain collector communities, specifically in the central region of Chile between the years 1996 and 2006. In Buin, where Lira was born and raised, grain and fruit picking is one of the main sources of income for local people, despite them being paid so little that they could never afford to purchase the cereal their harvests become. The exhibition invites its audience to more closely inspect the experience of consumption in relation to the labour that enables it.

“Ever since I remember, farm work has been the main economic activity in Buin. Long shifts under the sun, fruit picking, cleaning and packing, hauling of crates onto diesel-fuelled 16-wheelers. These were the tasks that filled the days of my mother, who would be on the fields for 18 hours each day.”

Lira’s work hints at autobiography, but is tied to a much broader social and cultural commentary. Informed by his own exposure to poverty and the exploitative underbelly of capitalism, primary themes identifiable in his work include politics, consumerism, class and family.

In 2024, Lira showcased new works from Worky Flakes as part of the Nuance group exhibition, and will open a soon-to-be-announced solo exhibition in July.

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