Aurelia Butler

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    The Gaze: Barry Jenkins Directs a Stunning Non-Narrative Film that Preserves the Legacy of Black Ancestors

    
    Art
    History

    #film
    #video

    May 18, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    
    At the heart of Barry Jenkins’s extraordinarily moving new film is “the Black gaze; or the gaze distilled.” The Oscar-winning director shot the standalone project while filming the TV adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, which premiered on May 14. Notably titled The Gaze, the parallel project isn’t an episode of the series but rather a compelling collection of non-narrative portraits captured spontaneously alongside the show.
    Early on in production, Jenkins says in a statement, “I looked across the set and realized I was looking at my ancestors, a group of people whose images have been largely lost to the historical record. Without thinking, we paused production on The Underground Railroad and instead harnessed our tools to capture portraits of… them.”

    Presented in the same order as the series which moves from Georgia to Indiana, the vignettes spotlight both principal and background actors who wear striking period costumes by Caroline Eselin—the designer also collaborated with Jenkins on his lauded films Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk. Each shot is an intimate and evocative portrayal of imagined kin. “We halted our filming many times for moments like these. Moments where… standing in the spaces our ancestors stood, we had the feeling of seeing them, truly seeing them and thus, we sought to capture and share that seeing with you,” the director says.
    Jenkins writes that he was inspired by Kerry James Marshall’s “Scipio Moorhead, Portrait of Himself, 1776,” which is an earnest rendering of the African American artist who actively painted throughout the 1770s while he was enslaved. Marshall’s homage secures Moorhead’s legacy in an urgent and necessary act of visual documentation that Jenkins replicates:
    We have sought to give embodiment to the souls of our ancestors frozen in the tactful but inadequate descriptor “enslaved,” a phrase that speaks only to what was done to them, not to who they were nor what they did… This is an act of seeing. Of seeing them. And maybe, in a soft-headed way, of opening a portal where THEY may see US, the benefactors of their efforts, of the lives they LIVED.
    Jenkins notes that The Gaze contains only abstracted scenes so it won’t spoil The Underground Railroad. Watch the entire film above, and read the director’s essay describing the project on Vimeo. (via Kottke)

    #film
    #video

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    Nimble Pugs and Other Cheery Canines Are Chiseled into Stocky Wooden Sculptures by Misato Sano

    
    Art

    #dogs
    #sculpture
    #self-portrait
    #wood

    May 17, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Misato Sano, shared with permission
    Studies show that people are inclined to adopt canine companions that resemble themselves or family members, a psychological impulse that Misato Sano (previously) flips on its head. Rather than carve a pack of doggy doubles, the artist creates textured wooden sculptures of curly-haired poodles and acrobatic pugs imbued with different aspects of her own personality. Encompassing multiple breeds, expressions, and physical traits, each work is a self-portrait. She explains to Colossal:
    For me, using the form of dogs is the most appropriate, highest-resolution method to materialize what I think of my inner self. Materializing myself in various states is about having an honest, direct dialogue with myself. In facing myself, I would like to be passionate, free, and loving, like a dog. My works are also about myself looking at myself. In that sense, I might have been making an existence that is sometimes beside myself, a little distance in other times, watching over myself.
    Sano is based in the Tohoku region of the Miyagi prefecture and spends her summers creating the lively creatures with fur chiseled in visible gouges. As the weather turns cold, she shifts her practice to embroidery and conveys the adorable faces in plush tufts of thread.
    If you’re in Portland, you can see Sano’s carved characters as part of a group exhibition running August 14 to 29 at Gallery Nucleus. Otherwise, check out her Instagram for glimpses into her process and to see some of the real-life pups that inspire her works.

    #dogs
    #sculpture
    #self-portrait
    #wood

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  • 200 Shares199 Views

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    David Shrigley Designs a Collection of Phone Cases and Tech Accessories with His Signature Witty Illustrations

    
    Art
    Design
    Illustration

    #humor
    #satire
    #technology

    May 14, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images courtesy of Casetify
    David Shrigley’s famously dry sense of humor and satirical quips grace a new collection of phone cases and other accessories. The British artist (previously) is collaborating with Casetify on a forthcoming line—it includes a dozen iPhone cases, plus Apple Watch bands, AirPods covers, stands, chargers, in addition to sleek laptop sleeves and bags—featuring his signature bold drawings alongside reminders to “be nice” and “work hard, play hard, eat a huge pizza.” One illustration, the pastel wolf, is even designed to howl a custom phrase.
    As part of the collaboration, 100 limited-edition black mirror cases printed with a multi-color “There are no rules” will be released through a lottery, which you can enter starting next week on Casetify’s site. The rest of the designs go on sale on May 25. (via It’s Nice That)

    #humor
    #satire
    #technology

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  • 163 Shares189 Views

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    Ceramic Mosaics Mend Cracked Sidewalks, Potholes, and Buildings in Vibrant Interventions by Ememem

    
    Art

    #mosaics
    #public art
    #street art

    May 13, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Ememem, shared with permission
    Throughout his home city of Lyon, Ememem is known as “the pavement surgeon.” The artist repairs gouged sidewalks and splintered facades with colorful mosaics that he describes as “a poem that everybody can read.” Intricate geometric motifs laid with pristine tiles hug the cracks and create “a memory notebook of the city. It reveals what happened, the life in these public places,” he tells Colossal. “Here cobblestones have been picked up and thrown. There a truck from the vegetable market tore off a piece of asphalt…”
    Ememem’s first mosaic dates back 10 years when he found himself in a damaged alley in Lyon. At that time, he already was working in ceramic and translated that practice to revitalizing the outdoor area. Since 2016, he’s been consistently filling potholes and other divots throughout France. “It’s a succession of a lot of places and reflections, experiments I did before. I had done similar things, with other techniques, other supports, and finally, when this one emerged, I knew I found something that I was going to keep doing for the rest of my life,” he says.
    If you’re in Paris, you can see some of Ememem’s newest interventions around the Grand Paris Express in Saint-Maur-Créteil through August 31. His work also will be at Spraying Board in Lyon on June 2 and included in a group show at Florian Daguet-Bresson opening June 8. You can find an extensive archive of his patched projects on his site and Instagram. Check out these guerilla pothole mosaics by Chicago artist Jim Bachor for similar street mendings. (via Jeroen Apers)

    For Société du Grand Paris
    Left: Lyon (2021). Right: Paris (2020)

    Grand Paris Express
    Mycosis on the Môle de Sète
    Right: Rue Bollier

    #mosaics
    #public art
    #street art

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  • 175 Shares169 Views

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    Candid Murals by Street Artist Escif Cleverly Respond to Political Issues and Current Events

    
    Art

    #humor
    #murals
    #public art
    #site-specific
    #street art

    May 13, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Espoire” in Lozzi, France. All images © Escif, shared with permission
    Street artist Escif (previously) utilizes muted color palettes and straightforward motifs to convert walls around his home city of Valencia and other locations throughout Europe into perceptive ruminations on capitalism, politics, and society. He paints sparse scenes and objects with ties to their environment and current events, often relying on humor and wit to convey an underlying message. Although the Spanish artist has spent much of the last year in his studio working on drawings with his two-year-old son, some of his more recent artworks include a brick shattering an already damaged window, a military officer armed with a vaccine like a bazooka, and a touching tribute to the late street artist Hyuro, who died last November.
    Escif just completed a series in Corse and is headed to Lithuania and northern Italy in the next few months, which you can follow on Instagram. Shop available prints on his site.

    “Aguja” in Valencia
    A tribute to the late artist Hyuro in Valencia
    “Break” in Charleroi, Belgium
    Left: “Low Cost” in Valencia. Right: “Brote”
    “Underground” in Barcelona

    #humor
    #murals
    #public art
    #site-specific
    #street art

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    Digital Renderings Collage 3D Objects into Futuristic Self-Portraits by Artist Omar Aqil

    
    Art

    #collage
    #digital
    #sculpture
    #self-portrait
    #technology

    May 13, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Omar Aqil, shared with permission
    Lahore, Pakistan-based artist Omar Aqil (previously) digitally assembles technology, 3D objects, and textured masses into figurative collages for his series Self-Portraits 2050. The futuristic characters all sport a pair of glasses but are otherwise distinct, sometimes conveyed through sleek geometric shapes stacked into facial features and others sprouting whimsical florals and various organic elements. Experimentation and play are at the heart of this new series—which Aqil refers to as “profile pictures”—and his practice overall, resulting in an eclectic collection of self-portraits rooted in the current digital era.
    Find more of the artist’s sculptural renderings, which include a variety of abstracted figures and colorful assemblages, on Behance and Instagram.

    #collage
    #digital
    #sculpture
    #self-portrait
    #technology

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  • 150 Shares159 Views

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    Delightful Characters Spring to Life in Hand-Cranked Wooden Automata by Kazuaki Harada

    
    Art
    Design

    #automata
    #humor
    #kinetic sculpture
    #toys
    #video
    #wood

    May 12, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    Japanese woodworker Kazuaki Harada (previously) has spent the last few years designing these playful automata that activate with a simple hand-crank. Watch miners work in tandem, a figure cackle with unparalleled enthusiasm, and the devil aggressively play the fiddle, and make sure to turn your volume up, too—Harada often pairs an audio component with the mechanical movements for an additional dose of whimsy. For more of his quirky designs, which include many of the character-based works shown here in addition to more elaborate, abstract pieces, check out his Instagram and YouTube.

    [embedded content]
    

    #automata
    #humor
    #kinetic sculpture
    #toys
    #video
    #wood

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  • 188 Shares109 Views

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    A Monumental Book Printed on Uncut Paper Celebrates Hokusai’s Iconic ‘Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji’

    
    Art

    #art history
    #books
    #Japan
    #woodblock prints

    May 12, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Taschen, shared with permission
    A forthcoming volume from Taschen is an homage to renowned Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and his iconic woodblock print series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji. Compiling Hokusai’s original 36 artworks and the ten pieces he created following the success of the initial collection, the XXL edition celebrates the lauded artist and his fascination with Japan’s highest mountain.
    Encased in a cloth box with wooden closures, the 224-page book is layered with Japanese history and tradition in both content and form and features uncut paper and customary binding. The vivid, art historical works are paired with 114 color variations and writing by Andreas Marks—the director of the Clark Center for Japanese Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art is also behind Taschen’s volume chronicling more than two centuries of woodblock prints—who offers background on the exquisite body of work Hokusai produced throughout the Edo period when a local tourism boom positioned Mount Fuji as an enduring cultural landmark.
    Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji will be released in June and is available for pre-order from Bookshop.

    South Wind, Clear Weather (“Red Fuji”). Image © TASCHEN/Philadelphia Museum of Art

    Sekiya Village on the Sumida River. Image © TASCHEN/The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

    #art history
    #books
    #Japan
    #woodblock prints

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