BerdsCarnival (Maraya G Lopez)

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.”

BerdsCarnival is both my name and my project—a deliberate gesture to shift focus away from the singular “I” and toward the work itself. My identity is a site of ongoing negotiation, not fixed by any one gender, nation, or ethnicity. Like most people, I exist in between, moving through and beyond the categories that often confine us. This in-betweenness is not just lived experience; it is the foundation of my practice.

BerdsCarnival (Maraya G Lopez) is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. Born in 1979 in Lubbock, Texas, her work spans installation, live interventions, and painting, often centering on community, collaboration, and radical pedagogy.

Her projects have been exhibited at The Painting Center, A.I.R. Gallery’s 2017 Biennial, Flux Factory, Kunst Werke (KW) Gallery, 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 artist Ryan Compton and the Occupy Museums Collective on What’s Not There, a project exploring institutional critique and invisible labor.

Her works have been exhibited in The Met Museum and participated in the Met Museum Workers Biennial exhibitions. BerdsCarnival is a full-time security guard at The Met and a teaching artist with Art Yard BKLYN, where she continues to develop community-engaged art and education initiatives.

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 Benenit, 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 with mirror

Location: York Street

Year: 2023