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      Vipoo’s Exuberant Porcelain Characters Emanate Optimism and Togetherness

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      All images courtesy of Vipoo, shared with permission

      Vipoo’s Exuberant Porcelain Characters Emanate Optimism and Togetherness

      December 6, 2024

      ArtCraft

      Kate Mothes

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      Born and raised in Thailand, Vipoo Srivilasa—who often goes simply by Vipoo—moved to Melbourne more than two decades ago, where he’s created ceramic works that engage with concepts like queerness, migration, and spirituality.

      Vipoo emphasizes community, accessibility, and unwavering optimism in elegant yet playful porcelain sculptures (previously). In a range of glazes, from cobalt to gold luster to bright red, his dynamic characters gesture with their fingers in a “V” shape, usually denoting hopeful messages like “peace” or “victory.” Others appear to dance, wave, or cheer.

      “Albert” (2022)

      Titles like “Salutaris, the Patron of Well-being” or “Calma, the Spirit of Tranquility,” designate many of the figures with protective or uplifting roles. Vipoo taps into universal tenets of strong relationships and communities, like trust, fairness, and togetherness.

      The artist’s solo exhition re/JOY at the Australian Design Centre highlights a wide range of stories about people’s migration to different parts of Australia. Drawing on personal stories and mementos collected from strangers around the country, he shares diverse experiences that contribute to a collective story.

      re/JOY continues through February 19 in Darlinghurst, just outside of Sydney. And accompanying the show, a vibrant new monograph titled Positive Art Work celebrates 25 years of the artist’s career. Find more on Vipoo’s website and Instagram.

      “Circle of Trust” (2023)

      “Salutaris, the Patron of Well-being” (2024)

      “Calma, the Spirit of Tranquillity” (2024)

      “Shadowed Ally” and “White Blossoms” (2023)

      “Temporus, the Master of Time” (2024)

      Detail of a sculpture from ‘re/JOY’

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      Einar and Jamex de la Torre’s Monumental Glass Assemblages Hurtle Through ‘Collidoscope’

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      “Oxymodern (Aztec Calendar)” (2002), blown-glass, mixed-media wall installation, 120 x 120 x 12 inches.
      Image courtesy of the Cheech Marin Collection
      and Riverside Art Museum. All images courtesy of the artists and the Corning Museum of Glass, shared with permission

      Einar and Jamex de la Torre’s Monumental Glass Assemblages Hurtle Through ‘Collidoscope’

      December 5, 2024

      ArtCraft

      Kate Mothes

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      In 1972, when Einar and Jamex de la Torre were nine and 12 years old, respectively, their family moved to Southern California from their hometown, Guadalajara, Mexico. Building upon their immigrant experiences and the sometimes contradictory facets of bicultural identity, the artists began creating sculptures and installations exploring themes as varied as time, religion, traditions, and regionalism.

      The pair have collaborated since the 1990s, combining blown glass and mixed media into large-scale wall pieces and striking public art. In the expansive exhibition Collidoscope: de la Torre Brothers Retro-Perspective at the Corning Museum of Glass, the pair present 40 works spanning nearly three decades.

      “Meteorite dall’ Influenza Veneziana” (2024)

      Included in the showcase is a brand new, monumental commission titled “Meteorite dall’ Influenza Veneziana,” which draws on the rich history of Venetian or Murano glass.

      While only pieces produced on the small Italian island can bear the name of Murano—think Champagne in the wine world or Parmigiano Reggiano for cheese—the de la Torre brothers revel in the idea that “once [the technique] escaped, it hit the glassblowing world like a meteorite,” Einar says.

      The de la Torre brothers are known for their additive approach, layering both meaning and material into meticulous assemblages. Vibrant colors and sometimes ironic details, like symbols for a car battery or engine light, emerge when encountered up close, then dissolve into energetic patterns when viewed from a distance.

      Detail of “Meteorite dall’ Influenza Veneziana”

      Today, the duo split their time between San Diego and the Guadalupe Valley of Baja California, Mexico, and the occasionally humorous interplay of American and Mexican motifs hold a sustained role in their practice. Many pieces incorporate motifs specific to Mexico, like the iconic, circular Aztec calendar that combines a 365-day cycle with a 260-day ritual or spiritual cycle. Mechanical gears, shells, religious iconography, anatomy, and more, merge in their maximalist compilations.

      The brothers created the new work in the Corning Museum’s studio, and the idea for incorporating Venetian details like cane work arose organically around the hot shop team’s experience with the style. “An artist’s job is to get away with their vision,” Einar says, “and we were very gratified and surprised at how much support we had for our ideas for this commission.”

      Collidoscope continues through January 5 in Corning, New York. Find more on the artists’ website.

      Detail of “Meteorite dall’ Influenza Veneziana”

      “Frijolera Clásica” (2010), bown-glass, mixed-media sculpture, 31 x 18 x 18 inches. Image courtesy of Crocker Art Museum

      “Mitosis” (2008), blown-glass and mixed-media with resin castings and waterjet-cut aluminum frame, 48 x 48 x 9 inches. Image courtesy of the artists and Koplin Del Rio Gallery

      “En Cada Arbol una Cruz” (2000), blown-glass, mixed-media sculpture, 28 x 21 inches. Image courtesy of the artists and Koplin Del Rio Gallery

      Corning Museum of Glass staff work with the de la Torre brothers to install “Meteorite dall’ Influenza Veneziana”

      The de la Torre brothers construct glass installation components in the Amphitheater Hot Shop of the Corning Museum of Glass

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      Colossal’s Favorite Art Books of 2024

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      Colossal’s Favorite Art Books of 2024

      December 4, 2024

      ArtBooksPhotography

      Colossal

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      As we get ready to say goodbye to 2024, we’re celebrating some of our favorite books shared on Colossal throughout the year. We published dozens of articles about spectacular new monographs, photography, architecture, painting, science, history, and more. Peruse our top 10 below, and find many more in the Colossal Shop and on Bookshop.

      Shirin Neshat, “Land of Dreams” (2019), film still. © Shirin Neshat, courtesy of the artist, Gladstone Gallery, and Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and London

      The Women Who Changed Photography: And How to Master Their Techniques

      From bold black-and-white visages to masters of disguise, identity plays a vital role in many of the practices featured in The Women Who Changed Photography. The tome investigates the trailblazing practices of Lee Miller, Shirin Neshat, and many more, chronicling the individuals, aesthetics, and approaches that have shaped the field.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      Detail of Astrolin Color Card, Établissement Georget Fils Peintures Laquées et Vernis, Chantenay-Lès-Nantes (c. 1906). Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Forney, Paris

      Color Charts: A History

      From chemists’ plant-derived dyes to consumer paint swatches displayed at the hardware store, the history of color charts reflects a varied relationship between pigments, science, culture, and commerce. Anne Varichon explores the entwined evolution of this categorization through nearly 200 vibrant samples from the 15th century to modern day.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      The Art Book for Children

      Two decades ago, Phaidon published the first volume in The Art Book for Children series, which quickly became beloved by children and parents the world over. To share its legacy with a new generation of readers, this edition pairs a selection of “best of” artists from the original series with 30 brand-new contemporary entries.

      This year was a plentiful time for children’s art books, and we also enjoyed the informative narrative, I Am an Artist.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      Sacred Sites (Library of Esoterica)

      From ancient pyramids to subterranean labyrinths to mountaintop meccas, we have always been drawn to visiting or building sites that inspire reverence and awe. Sacred Sites celebrates how we traverse and transform the world around us through ritual and art. Compiled by Jessica Hundley, the volume surveys a remarkable array of places and artworks through more than 400 images centered around pilgrimage, performance, and devotion.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      Beth Moon, “Heart of the Dragon” (2010), archival pigment inks on cotton paper, 32 × 48 inches. Image © Beth Moon

      Tree: Exploring the Arboreal World

      Spanning 3,500 years of art, science, culture, and history, Tree: Exploring the Arboreal World surveys the awe-inspiring beauty and romance of trees. The volume includes more than 300 illustrations ranging from ancient wall paintings and botanical illustrations to captivating photography and multimedia work by today’s leading artists.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      Image © Ivan McClellan

      Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture

      Eight Seconds comprises 118 images by Ivan McClellan, a Portland, Oregon-based photographer who’s spent nearly a decade documenting the lives, wins, and losses of the Black rodeo community from Alabama to Los Angeles. He offers an insider’s view, capturing the addictive energy of the sport and the rich sense of camaraderie it fosters.

      Available on Bookshop

      Camo

      Camo is the first publication to chronicle the work of Thandiwe Muriu, celebrating her vibrant portraits that combine cultural textiles and beauty ideologies. Muriu takes us on a colorful, reflective journey through her world as a woman living in modern Kenya as she reinterprets contemporary African portraiture.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      Cover of ‘Hidden Portraits: Old Masters Reimagined,’ featuring “Hidden Jacometto” (2019), from “Portrait of a Young Man” (1480s) by Jacometto Veneziano

      Hidden Portraits: Old Masters Reimagined

      This monograph gathers a quintessential selection of Volker Hermes’s works into one volume. Highlighting the artist’s wry commentary on luxury, social status, and fame, the selection delves into the history of portraiture through a humorous lens.

      Available on Bookshop

      Great Women Sculptors

      Presenting a more expansive and inclusive history of sculpture, Great Women Sculptors surveys the work of more than 300 trailblazing artists from more than 60 countries, spanning 500 years from the Renaissance to the present day.

      Available in the Colossal Shop

      Artwork by Christina Fong

      Art Is Art: Collaborating with Neurodiverse Artists at Creativity Explored

      Spurred by the belief that art changes lives, Florence and Elias Katz founded Creativity Explored in 1983, a San Francisco-based nonprofit studio and gallery designed for disabled, neurodivergent artists. More than 135 people currently participate in its programming, learning techniques across painting, drawing, clay, textiles, and more. In Art Is Art, Ann Kappes, Creativity Explored’s director of artist partnerships, celebrates the organization’s 40th anniversary through hundreds of artworks.

      Available on Bookshop

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      In Chicago, an Expansive Exhibition Offers a New Vision of Himalayan Art

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      Losel Yauch. “Procession Immemorial.” Installation view of ‘Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now’ at Wrightwood 659. All photos by Michael Tropea, shared with permission

      In Chicago, an Expansive Exhibition Offers a New Vision of Himalayan Art

      December 4, 2024

      ArtSocial Issues

      Grace Ebert

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      Suspended in the atrium of Wrightwood 659 in Chicago is a three-story installation of vibrant prayer flags in yellow, green, white, red, and blue cascading from above. Five sculptural horses emerge through the lush curtain of textiles at varying points, appearing to gallop mid-air.

      Each flag’s color refers to the five elements and states of mind in Tibetan Buddhism. Yellow, for example, denotes earth and wisdom, while green references water and equanimity. White is air and purity, blue is space and endurance, and red refers to fire and compassion.

      Asha Kama Wangdi, VAST Bhutan, “The Windhorse (lungta)” (2024), cloth and metal

      By Bhutanese artist Asha Kama Wangdi, the monumental work utilizes the Buddhist tradition of lungta (wind horses), which are symbols of positive energy and good luck thought to carry prayers to the heavens. For this installation, the artist collected tattered and worn flags that broken loose and scattered across the landscape. This shift from spiritual object to a source of pollution inspired Asha Kama Wangdi, as he explored the contradiction between sacred practice and environmental care.

      “The Windhorse” is one of dozens of works included in Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now, a large-scale exhibition curated by Michelle Bennett Simorella of the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in New York. As the title suggests, the show aims to present a more contemporary view of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and other Himalayan regions.

      Bennett Simorella tasked 28 artists with pairing objects from the Rubin’s collection with their works, contextualizing today’s aesthetic and making practices within a long history of artists and crafters. Featuring works from across hundreds of miles of the Himalayan region, Reimagine is broad in scope, style, and medium, yet retains several throughlines.

      For example, New York-based artist Losel Yauch presents a riderless cavalry of woven horses in “Procession Immemorial,” which similarly draws on the concept of wind horses. Stitched onto their silk coats are images from stories the artist’s grandfather shared about fighting for freedom in his home of Kham in east Tibet.

      Shraddha Shrestha, “Dus Mahavidyas (Great Goddesses of Wisdom): Kamala” (2023), acrylic on canvas. Photo by Dave De Armas

      Also on view is a vibrant collection of paintings Shraddha Shrestha, who reinterprets the doe-eyed Powerpuff Girls as Hindu goddesses. The artist was raised in Patan, one of Nepal’s most historic cities, and shares in a statement:

      Growing up in a conservative, patriarchal Newari household meant staying within a lot of cultural, social, and gender boundaries. All the girls and women in my family were used to catcalling, unwanted stares from the neighbors, being scolded by male family members for dressing with our knees showing, getting judged for walking with a male friend, and being shouted at for reaching home after dark.  

      After school, Shraddha Shrestha enjoyed watching American cartoons, particularly the trio with superpowers. These animated characters soon became fixtures in her imaginary world, which combined facets of her home city with the girls’ strong-willed attitudes.

      “Womanhood should be celebrated. Instead, we need to fight for basic things like education, work, health, and more,” she says. “Doesn’t it contradict the tradition we believe in? Doesn’t it disrespect the deities we worship?”

      The second iteration of Reimagine, which was originally shown at the Rubin earlier this year, is on view through February 15.

      Asha Kama Wangdi, VAST Bhutan, “The Windhorse (lungta)” (2024), cloth and metal.

      IMAGINE (a.k.a. Sneha Shrestha), sculpture fabricated and engineered by Black Cat Labs, “Calling the Earth to Witness” (2023), acrylic on masonite, steel

      Tsherin Sherpa in collaboration with Bijay Maharjan and Regal Studio Metal casting team, including Durga Shrestha, Sajal Siwakoti, and Sangita Maharjan, “Muted Expressions” (2022), bronze.

      Tsherin Sherpa in collaboration with Bijay Maharjan and Regal Studio Metal casting team, including Durga Shrestha, Sajal Siwakoti, and Sangita Maharjan, “Muted Expressions” (2022), bronze.

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      Nature Alights on Cheerful Faces in Abi Castillo’s Ceramic Sculptures

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      All images courtesy of Abi Castillo, shared with permission

      Nature Alights on Cheerful Faces in Abi Castillo’s Ceramic Sculptures

      December 3, 2024

      ArtCraft

      Kate Mothes

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      Whether sprouting flowers for spectacles or summoning bluebirds, Abi Castillo’s playful characters mirror our inner selves, one another, and the world around us.

      “When I was little, they called me ‘Big Eyes,’ a name I received with pride, since it is an inheritance from my paternal grandmother, whom I barely knew but who stood out for her big eyes and powerful gaze,” Castillo (previously) says in a statement. “Carrying this legacy makes me aware of the importance of knowing where I come from and where I belong.”

      Through standalone sculptures and functional objects, Castillo emphasizes the act of seeing. Eyes are everywhere, looking back at the viewer as a reminder to reflect on what the artist describes as “this ephemeral, hectic, and hostile life.” She adds, “Each of my characters also holds a reflection of myself, of my connection with nature and of that little girl that I still carry inside…”

      Castillo is looking forward to moving to a larger studio soon, and she is currently busy making new sculptures, experimenting with different techniques to explore new shapes and formats, like jewelry. Find more on her website, and stay up-to-date on Instagram.

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      Yumi Okita’s Butterflies and Botanicals Metamorphose from Colorful Thread

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      Yumi Okita’s Butterflies and Botanicals Metamorphose from Colorful Thread

      December 2, 2024

      ArtCraftNature

      Kate Mothes

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      From vibrant thread and wire, Yumi Okita conjures thrillingly lifelike moths, butterflies, and flowers. The Raleigh-based artist (previously) meticulously embroiders insects’ colorful wings with an eye for realism, so until you’re up close, they appear as though they could flutter away at any moment. And in her more recent series of otherworldly botanicals, petals, leaves, and roots curl to look as though they were just plucked from their habitats.

      Okita often adds original sculptures to her Etsy shop, and you can also follow updates on Instagram.

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      Masakatsu Sashie’s Mysterious Spheres Hover Over Post-Apocalyptic Landscapes

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      “TOKI.” All images courtesy of Masakatsu Sashie, shared with permission

      Masakatsu Sashie’s Mysterious Spheres Hover Over Post-Apocalyptic Landscapes

      December 2, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Encircling eerie orbs, architectural elements and neon signs hover above urban landscapes and fields of detritus in Masakatsu Sashie’s oil paintings. His fantastical, post-apocalyptic scenes envision Earth “as a representation of the universe,” the artist tells Colossal.

      Sashie adds, “This led me to the idea of symbolically expressing the sphere. My inspiration came from designs that feature circles symbolically composed within rectangles, such as the Japanese national flag, Hanafuda cards, and mandalas.”

      “Phantasm (night)”

      Sashie begins by gathering images related to a theme, such as signage, aging buildings, or retro motifs. He works from his own photographs, in addition to images he finds online. Likening the composition to a two-dimensional assemblage, he then merges all of the shapes into floating globes, rendered in oil on canvas.

      Devoid of people, Sashie’s landscapes interrogate the nature of mass consumerism, waste, and aging infrastructure. Like some of sci-fi’s most iconic spaceships—think the Death Star from Star Wars—the illuminated spheres appear to run on inexplicable sources of energy, leaving their internal workings or possible inhabitants a total mystery.

      If you plan to be in Melbourne in May, Sashie’s work is slated for an exhibition at Outré Gallery, followed by another show in July at i GALLERY in Osaka. In the meantime, dive deeper into the artist’s imaginary worlds on Instagram.

      “Phantasm (day)”

      “Echo”

      “Concrete”

      “Shield”

      “Hall”

      “Boiler”

      “SYMBOL パ”

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      Swans, Plants, and Fragmented Figures Warmly Embrace in Yool Kim’s Paintings

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      “Sitting on the Couch.” All images courtesy of Yool Kim, shared with permission

      Swans, Plants, and Fragmented Figures Warmly Embrace in Yool Kim’s Paintings

      November 28, 2024

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      Warmth permeates Yool Kim’s most recent body of work, which portrays tangled masses of limbs and swans in rich palettes of reds, pinks, and oranges.

      Laying dense lines in acrylic paint, the Seoul-based artist examines the interactions between living things and their sometimes contradictory desires. Her new paintings entwine fragmented iterations of human figures with graceful black and white birds, monsteras, and ferns to explore peace and equality.

      “A Peaceful Afternoon”

      “I wanted to express the beauty of being able to care (for) the weak and taking care of each other, without a sense of superiority and inferiority in living things that are set by the world,” Kim tells Colossal. “By hugging, touching, or leaning on each other, I highlighted the meaning of connection and warmth.”

      As with earlier bodies of work, this series similarly explores the fractured nature of the self. Kim shares that she’s feeling calmer and more tranquil these days, which is reflected in the ways figures stretch to embrace one another.

      “I also wanted to express that I have many egos and personalities within me; I am a human being full of complexity who cannot grasp existence as a single disposition,” she adds. “I’m always considering myself.”

      Kim will show paintings in several exhibitions this spring, the first of which opens in March at Hall Spassov in Seattle. Find more of her work on Instagram.

      “An Autumn Night”

      “Cozy & Silent”

      “Dream”

      “Let Me Shine, Let You Shine”

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