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José Luis Torres, detail of Material Culture installation at University of Waterloo Art Gallery: Sep 15-Dec 9, 2023. Photo: Scott Lee.

José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit

September 12, 2024 - January 17, 2025
In the Community

Visit the lobby at Idea Exchange Queen's Square to experience an installation featuring a vibrant collection of items draping the doorway. The installation encourages a moment of pause to wonder and search as the work inspires critiques of consumerism. Torres’ installation uses familiar domestic, institutional, and recreational items to elevate our appreciation of the everyday while also inviting reflection on the challenges of consumer culture—our tendency to accumulate and the growing complexities of storing, recycling, and disposing of surplus goods.

This installation reuses the items from Material Culture, an exhibition produced by the University of Waterloo Art Gallery. They generously allowed us to give the items another life before donating them to consumer distribution. 


José Luis Torres was born in Argentina and has a Bachelor's Degree in visual arts, a Master's Degree in sculpture and training in architecture and integrating art with architecture. He has been living and working in Quebec since 2003. His work has been showcased in many solo and group exhibitions, in public interventions and artist residencies in Canada, Argentina, the United States, Mexico and Europe.

  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
    José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
    José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
    José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
    José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
    José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
    José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.
  • José Luis Torres: Stock-in-Transit, installation at Cambridge Public Library, Queen's Square lobby, 2024. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.

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