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      Balloons, Plants, and Bubble Wrap Become Powerful Subversive Symbols in Alicia Brown’s Portraits

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      Art
      #balloons
      #oil painting
      #painting
      #plants
      #portraitsJanuary 31, 2022Grace Ebert“Love notes from my father in a foreign land when the apple trees blossom” (2021), oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches. All photos by Daniel Perales Studio, © Alicia Brown, shared with permissionIn her new body of work What About the Men?, Jamaica-born, Sarasota-based artist Alicia Brown extracts and reenvisions elements of traditional portraiture. She recasts objects of cultural and social status, like the elaborate gowns and thick ruffled collars worn by wealthy aristocrats throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, by instead rendering her subjects in casual clothing like shorts and rubber flipflops with colorful latex balloons, plants, and plastic bubble wrap coiled around their necks.Contemporary and subversive, Brown’s oil paintings are rooted in history and a reinvented use of symbols interpreted as power, control, celebration, adaptation, and survival. She explains:As an artist from the Caribbean, Jamaica, which was colonized by Europe, presently there is still that system of classism that has its origin during slavery and colonialism in Jamaica that the natives have to navigate in order to fit into society. I have referenced the collar as an object that is European and replaced it with objects such as spoons, cotton swaps, shells, balloons, bubble wrap, and recently elements of nature. These collars adorned the neck of the models who are regular people and who are constantly going through a performance of creating an identity to gain acceptance.Derived from a photograph of a friend, family member, or neighbor, each intimate portrait is set against a lush backdrop of foliage or in domestic scenes with encroaching plant and animal life. “Through my work, I hope to convey to the viewer to look beyond their eyes and to see themselves as the person represented in the painting, to share their world, and to come to the awareness that we share so much in common, we are all connected as beings,” the artist shares.If you’re in Rochester, you can see What About the Men? through March 6 at UUU Art Collective. Otherwise, visit Brown’s site and Instagram.“The Duke of Portmore-dad’s legacy” (2022), 48 x 36 inches“The queen’s coronation” (2020), oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches“Male bird of paradise” (2021), oil on canvas, 64 x 42 inches“You look just like your father” (2021), oil on canvas“There is a race of men who do not fit in” (2021), oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches“Portrait of lady Cameal from Alva” (2020), oil on canvas, 28 x 36 inches
      #balloons
      #oil painting
      #painting
      #plants
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      A Trompe L’oeil Mural by Shozy Imagines a 3D Architectural Addition to an Apartment Building

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      Art
      #architecture
      #mural
      #public art
      #trompe l’oeilJanuary 28, 2022Grace EbertAll images courtesy of Urban Morpho Genesis, shared with permissionA concrete apartment building in Solnechnodolsk, Russia, seems to have added balconies, windows, and a few extra rooms in a trippy new mural by artist Danila Shmelev, aka Shozy. Created for the Urban Morpho Genesis festival, the massive optical illusion appears as a three-dimensional construction that juts out from the complex, despite lying flat on the corner walls. The Moscow-born artist says:In Russia, we are all accustomed to the architecture of panel houses. Our eyes are so blurred that aesthetics are out of the question. With my work, I want to focus the viewer’s attention on a familiar landscape and show it from an unusual side, complementing the real ends of two five-story buildings with illusory geometry, so that they draw the eye of the viewer to the ordinary landscape, encouraging them to really consider it.You can find more from Shozy and the festival on Instagram, and shop smaller trompe l’oeil works on canvas on Hiya.
      #architecture
      #mural
      #public art
      #trompe l’oeilDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More

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      SpaceWalk: A Spectacular Rollercoaster-Esque Staircase Loops Through a South Korean Park

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      Art
      Design
      #public art
      #sculpture
      #stairs
      #steelJanuary 27, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Heike Mutter and Ulrich GenthTowering 70-meters above ground at its highest point, “SpaceWalk” is the latest undulating sculpture by Hamburg-based artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth. The monumental staircase winds in loops and elevations similar to that of a rollercoaster throughout Pedestrians enter the work at a central staircase, which breaks into two paths: one gently sloped walkway leads to a view of Yeongil Bay and the surrounding city, while the other is a steeper climb through a helix. Both are designed to mimic an otherworldly experience. “The title ‘SpaceWalk’ is taken from the terminology of outer space missions. It describes the act of exiting the space vehicle in the weightlessness of outer space. More literally, ‘SpaceWalk’ can be understood to mean ‘a walk through space,’” they say.For more of the duo’s architectural projects, head to their site. (via This Isn’t Happiness)
      #public art
      #sculpture
      #stairs
      #steelDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More

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      Knit Coral Suits and Vibrant Marine Creatures Spring From Mulyana’s Whimsical Yarn-Based Ecosystems

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      Art
      Craft
      #coral
      #costumes
      #crochet
      #installation
      #knitting
      #octopusJanuary 26, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Mulyana, courtesy of Sapar Contemporary, shared with permissionIn Mulyana’s Fragile Ecologies, two figures cloaked in coral and algae tower over beds of fiber-based sea creatures. The Indonesian artist continues his playful and eccentric approach to marine life conservation in his solo show on view through March 4 at Sapar Contemporary, which brings some of his life-sized costumes and an array of woolen specimens to the gallery. Each piece is knit or crocheted with recycled, brightly colored yarn, which the artist fashions into sprawling ecosystems and immersive installations that dangle from the ceiling.Mulyana puts a fantastic twist on the natural lifeforms, especially when crafting his signature Mogus character: most recently, the reimagined octopus is outfitted with a mustache in leopard print, innumerable eyes all over its body, and polka-dotted horns. Lighthearted in presentation, the works are rooted in more urgent issues like the effects of the climate crisis, isolation, and how we collectively configure identities that are always evolving. A statement about Fragile Ecologies says:On a macro level, Mulyana’s profound concern for the eroding environment and our collective lack of care for the natural world parallels the importance of self-care on a micro level. His message encourages a holistic path to self-preservation amidst a chaotic and uncertain post-pandemic world. While Mulyana does not overtly reference gender and sexuality in his intricate installations, the diversity of his colorful environments and spectacular costumes allude to the fluidity of human identity.For more of Mulyana’s underwater knits and costumes, head to his site and Instagram.
      #coral
      #costumes
      #crochet
      #installation
      #knitting
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      Dense Fields of Colored String Comprise Expressive Portraits by Artist Joshua Adokuru

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      Art
      #nails
      #portraits
      #thread
      #woolJanuary 26, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Joshua Adokuru, shared with permissionBlending sturdy metal with the soft warmth of wool, Joshua Adokuru winds vibrant fibers around precisely placed nails that anchor his expressive and abstract portraits. The Abuja-based artist always incorporates strings in shades of blue, which fill amorphous shapes highlighting the subject’s face or defining the checkered pattern of a sweater. It’s “a natural color, a color of the sky, a color of the sea,” he says, noting that he gravitates toward bold, fantastical hues for skin tones. “Blue has this feeling of peace, a feeling of serenity.”Formally trained in computer science, Adokuru has been experimenting with different mediums since secondary school, but it wasn’t until spring of 2020 that he started working with thread. His pieces, which are often larger than life, begin with a photograph of a child or friend, which are then translated into a simple sketch on a wooden board. Adokuru accentuates the figure’s silhouette, facial features, and any motif on their clothing or in the backdrop with nails that are glued in place, sprayed with black paint, and finally covered in taught thread. Because the artist is most concerned with capturing his subjects’ exact expressions, he always completes the eyes last.Adokuru will show some of his works in New York this fall, and you can glimpse his process on Instagram. (via Lustik)
      #nails
      #portraits
      #thread
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      Stars, Circles, and Symbols in Primary Colors Form Astrological Maps and Coded Works by Shane Drinkwater

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      Art
      #acrylic
      #paintingJanuary 25, 2022Grace EbertAll images © Shane Drinkwater, shared with permissionAs a child, Australian artist Shane Drinkwater (previously) was fascinated by maps, astronomical charts, and ciphers. “This possibly relates to my dyslexia: images and shapes had a strong attraction whereas words on paper were a difficult subject,” he tells Colossal. “I found maps on paper quite appealing, coloured shapes and unraveling a code to find a path in the real world.”This cartographic interest permeates the artist’s current body of work, which features dots, stars, dashes, and concentric circles arranged in vast systems and imaginary cosmic charts. Rendered in acrylic on paper or canvas, the hypnotizing works rely mostly on neutral tones similar to that of weathered parchment combined with reds, blues, and yellows. This influence comes from medieval illuminated manuscripts, which used “primary colours for maximum visual impact,” he says.Drinkwater, who was born in Tasmania and currently lives in Queensland, has pieces available at Cavin-Morris Gallery, Pulp, and Copenhagen Outsider Art Gallery, along with a solo show slated for June at Boom Gallery in Victoria. He recently collaborated with the clothing brand indi + ash to create patterns for some of its garments, which you can see more of on Instagram.
      #acrylic
      #paintingDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More

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      6,000 Strips of Washi Tape Intersect in a Kaleidoscopic Installation by Artist Emmanuelle Moureaux

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      Art
      #immersive
      #installation
      #tapeJanuary 25, 2022Grace EbertAll images by Daisuke Shima, courtesy of Emmanuelle Moureax, shared with permissionOne hundred colors and 6,000 strips of masking tape later, Tokyo-based French architect and artist Emmanuelle Moureaux (previously) has constructed an elaborate installation of intersecting lines in Kurashiki, Japan. The immersive work, which was a commission from the brand mt, extends from the factory floor to ceiling in a crisscrossing mishmash of diagonals and pigments. To complete the piece, which is part of Moureaux’s 100 Colors series, the artist fastened 15-millimeter tape in a vibrant, rainbow gradient throughout the space, leaving a tunnel-like walkway for visitors to pass through and experience how perspectives shift depending on the angle.Explore more of the artist’s architectural installations on her site and Instagram. (via designboom)
      #immersive
      #installation
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      Dreamlike Sculptures by Christina Bothwell Meld Ceramic, Glass, and Oil Paint into Otherworldly Figures

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      Art
      #animals
      #ceramics
      #dreams
      #glass
      #mosaics
      #oil paint
      #sculpture
      #surrealJanuary 24, 2022Grace Ebert“Two Violets.” All images © Christina Bothwell, shared with permissionFrom her Pennsylvania studio, Christina Bothwell (previously) sculpts surreal hybrid creatures and figures that occupy the unearthly space between dreams and wakefulness. She works with a combination of annealed glass, pit-fired ceramics, oil paint, and small mosaic tiles, which each correspond to a conceptual element. “I always come back to the idea that the physical part of us is just a small part of who we are in our entirety,” the artist tells Colossal. “The translucent parts of my pieces are meant to suggest the soul or that part of us that is more than just our bodies.  The ceramic portions of my pieces represent our grounded, tangible parts.”In her most recent body of work, Bothwell continues her explorations into the liminal and states of flux: a slumbering child appears to float from its sleeping counterpart in “Lucid Dream,” while another lies upside down in “Mood Swing.” Many of the sculptures are tinged with themes of magic, imagination, and escapism, which are reflected in the ways that human bodies meld with birds, monkeys, octopuses, and deer. She explains:I was a sensitive child with eccentric parents who didn’t fit in. I didn’t even fit in with my family a lot of the time. It was like I was a changeling or an alien they were forced to live with. I felt like an outsider for most of my life, and it always felt precarious, unsafe, being who I was. For this reason, I think I identify with deer… despite their beauty and grace, they are not protected or valued (at least not where I live), and their vulnerability and innocence resonates with something deep within me.Bothwell’s fantastical works will be on view at Habatat Gallery and Muskegon Museum of Art as part of the upcoming Beyond the Glass Ceiling, Influential Women in Glass exhibition and again this summer at Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee. Until then, explore more of her sculptures on Instagram.“Simian Dream”“Lucid Dream”“Snail”“Little Deer”“Mood Swing”“Speak No Evil See No Evil Hear No Evil”Left: “Here and Now.” Right: “Safe Haven”“Dream State”Top: “New Sunday.” Bottom left: “Tea with Cows.” Bottom right: “Tea Party”
      #animals
      #ceramics
      #dreams
      #glass
      #mosaics
      #oil paint
      #sculpture
      #surrealDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story  More