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Quentin Garel’s Lifelike Sculptures Transport Us to the ‘Faraway Forest’

by Aurelia Butler 7 November 2024, 14:22

All images courtesy of the artist and Galerie LJ, shared with permission

Quentin Garel’s Lifelike Sculptures Transport Us to the ‘Faraway Forest’

November 7, 2024

ArtNature

Kate Mothes

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Lifelike mammals with sage expressions characterize the sculptures of Quentin Garel (previously). A deer with enormous antlers, an ibex—a type of wild goat—with curving horns, and a beady-eyed donkey are just a few of the creatures in the artist’s current solo exhibition with Galerie LJ, Dans la Forêt Lontaine—or, “in the faraway forest.”

Oscillating between reality and fantasy, Garel’s sculptures portray creatures threatened by overhunting, displaying them on the wall or atop metal rods like trophies. He works with the wood’s natural grain, allowing the whorls and knots to emphasize musculature.

Part of a commissioned series for a public installation in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Garel explores the theme of mountain animals, drawing attention to the needless impulse to hunt for sport. In Thonon-les-Bains, bronze casts of the pieces shown currently at Galerie LJ will be installed in a large wall fountain.

Dans la Forêt Lontaine continues through November 23 in Paris. Find more of Garel’s work on Instagram.

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Bruno Pontiroli’s Absurd Portraits Highlight Quirky Behavior and Zoological Buffoonery
by Aurelia Butler 28 October 2024, 13:31
“Les enjambées sauvages II” (2024), 100 x 81 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist and Corey Helford Gallery, shared with permission
Bruno Pontiroli’s Absurd Portraits Highlight Quirky Behavior and Zoological Buffoonery
October 28, 2024
Art
Kate Mothes
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You’ve probably heard expressions like “going around in circles” or “running like a rabbit,” but chances are you haven’t pictured them quite like Bruno Pontiroli’s scenes of zoological mayhem.
In oil paintings that nod to 19th-century wildlife illustrations, Lyon-based artist (previously) evokes common phrases like “la vie en rose,” akin to the English saying: “to see life through rose-colored glasses.” And in “Le conflit intérieur,” or “interior conflict,” a tiger and a grizzly bear duke it out despite being joined together.
“Le conflit intérieur” (2024), 100 x 81 centimeters
Histoires Naturelles & Grotesques, Pontiroli’s solo show opening soon at Corey Helford Gallery, highlights the artist’s continued fascination with defying natural order. His compositions fuse animals into single beings, add absurdly long legs, or extend numerous extra appendages from a single creature to illustrate the often farcical quirks of human behavior.
Histoires Naturelles & Grotesques runs from November 2 to December 7 in Los Angeles. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
“Copains comme cochons” (2024), 50 x 60 centimeters
“La vie en rose” (2024), 61 x 46 centimeters
“Portrait d’un tocard” (2024), 60 x 81 centimeters
“Tourner en rond” (2024), 50 x 40 centimeters
“Courir comme un lapin” (2024), 30 x 40 centimeters
“Le pli de génie II” (2024), 97 x 78 centimeters
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Dressed to the Canines: Helga Stentzel Styles Playful Clothesline Illusions
by Aurelia Butler 25 October 2024, 16:59
All images courtesy of Helga Stentzel, shared with permission
Dressed to the Canines: Helga Stentzel Styles Playful Clothesline Illusions
October 25, 2024
ArtPhotography
Grace Ebert
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The cat’s pajamas take on new meaning in Helga Stentzel’s fashionable menagerie. Working in what she calls “household surrealism,” the London-based artist styles cheeky illusions from socks, sweatshirts, and even onesies that, once draped over a washline, appear like a cow grazing in a pasture or a sloth hanging lazily from a branch. Her latest projects roam from the snowy mountains of Austria to the River Thames to the brightly colored buildings of the island city of Burano in the Venetian Lagoon.
Stentzel is currently collaborating with Portmanteau, a Helsinki-based performance company on a production with her chic compositions. She has select prints available in her shop, and keep an eye on Instagram for new clothesline creatures.
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Thriving Habitats by Stéphanie Kilgast Emerge from Plastic Bottles and Recycled Objects
by Aurelia Butler 23 October 2024, 16:30
“Fitting In (Decorator Crab)” (2024), mixed media on thrifted jewelry box, 8 x 6.75 x 7 inches. All images courtesy of Arch Enemy Arts, shared with permission
Thriving Habitats by Stéphanie Kilgast Emerge from Plastic Bottles and Recycled Objects
October 23, 2024
ArtClimate
Kate Mothes
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From crunched, single-use containers to thrifted boxes and repurposed clocks, Stéphanie Kilgast (previously) devises unique habitats for a wide range of creatures. Fungi takes root along the sides of a green bottle as a beetle crawls over the cap in “Weevil Wander,” for example, and a violet owl alights on the top of a pair of binoculars.
Kilgast’s solo exhibition, LUSCIOUS LEGACY at Arch Enemy Arts, continues the artist’s interest in highlighting the human impact on the environment and the increasingly grim consequences of the climate crisis. Rather than focusing on the darker reality, she adopts an optimistic view of nature’s resilience.
“Weevil Wander” (2024), mixed media on plastic bottle, 6 x 5 x 7.75 inches
“My work touches very contrasting emotions: the joy of color and natural beauty but also the sadness and despair of where we are headed,” Kilgast says. She hopes to aid us in questioning mass consumerism and its resulting trash, which continues to threaten delicate ecosystems worldwide, and adds, “The world is beautiful. It is worth fighting for.”
LUSCIOUS LEGACY runs through October 27 in Philadelphia. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
“Chi Va Piano” (2024), mixed media on reclaimed clock, 6 x 3 x 4.25 inches
Detail of “Chi Va Piano”
“Stare (Eurasian Eagle Owl)” (2024), mixed media on reclaimed binoculars, 3.5 x 5 x 9.75 inches
Detail of “Weevil Wanderer”
“Glacier” (2024), mixed media on plastic bottle, 4 x 4.25 x 8.75 inches
“Bloom” (2024), mixed media on plastic bottle, 6.75 x 7.75 x 9.75 inches
“Luscious Legacy” (2024), mixed media on milk carton, 7.75 x 3 x 8.75 inches
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Energetic Characters Collide in Roco’s Bold, Cartoonish Jumbles
by Aurelia Butler 22 October 2024, 19:43
All images courtesy of Rodrigo Oñate Roco, shared with permission
Energetic Characters Collide in Roco’s Bold, Cartoonish Jumbles
October 22, 2024
Art
Grace Ebert
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Rodrigo Oñate, a.k.a. Roco, marries the visual languages of graffiti, comics, and pop culture in his energetic paintings. Splitting his time between Chicago and Querétaro, Mexico, the artist works on walls and canvases, mish-mashing a flurry of characters along with simple patterns, squiggles, and the occasional surreal detail, like a gloved hand embedded with an eye.
Roco describes his process as entirely intuitive and almost like graffiti writing. “I throw some lines and from there. I start staging characters and elements adding textures and intricate forms,” he says. “I like movement and fluid forms, (and I’m) also always looking for a good balance of color and texture in the composition.”
Several cartoonish characters recur throughout the spirited works and often emerge from personal connections. Birds, for example, come from Roco’s mother telling him that the animals flocking to their family garden were ancestors visiting from another realm, while dogs mimic his three dogs.
Other creatures have broader symbolism, like the jaguars and large cats recalling the spiritual guides of Mexican mythology. And the primates? They’re included because they bring a sense of play and joy, the two feelings the artist hopes to convey with each work.
Prints and other goods are available in Roco’s shop, and you can find more on Instagram.
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On Canvas and Shell, Alexis Trice Paints Ethereal Scenes Gleaming with Energy
by Aurelia Butler 22 October 2024, 10:00
“High Spirits II.” All images courtesy of Arch Enemy Arts, shared with permission
On Canvas and Shell, Alexis Trice Paints Ethereal Scenes Gleaming with Energy
October 22, 2024
ArtNature
Grace Ebert
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For Alexis Trice, water is about moving energy and emotion. The native New Yorker (previously) paints gleaming tears that gush from an animal’s eyes or green-tinged seas with roiling waves to “release and recycle.” She adds, “I wanted to make work that could be felt without fully being seen.”
Earthy color palettes and glinting light recur in Trice’s works, along with shaggy brown dogs that “represent the ideal conduit to bridge the gap of shared emotion between wild animals and humans.” One such creature appears in “Hay Fever,” which features the canine surrounded by thick grass with broken strands of pearls in its mouth.
“Deep Sea, Deep Sea, Swallow Me”
Trice frequently returns to these naturally lustrous gems to convey the passage of time, and in her latest exhibition Dust & Brine, mollusks appear as substrates in addition to subject matter. Twenty scallop shells hold ethereal scenes in miniature, whether a diptych of a bisected blue whale or three fish swirling in a lucky trinity.
Atmospheric and ethereal, this body of work ventures further into the surreal. The artist writes about “High Spirits II,” which depicts a pair of taper candles embedded in a pink fish: “Soft flaky scales and iridescence achieved through many glazes, trial, and error. Juicy wet flesh, and flashes of candlelight peering through astigmatism eyes.”
If you’re in Philadelphia, stop by Arch Enemy Arts to see Trice’s work through October 27. Otherwise, find more on her website and Instagram.
“Fortune II”
“My Heart is a Lonesome Hunter”
“Low Tide”
“The Old Dog”
“A Fly”
“Hay Fever”
“The Sun Gets in Your Eyes”
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From Reviled to Revered, an Enormous Pigeon Perches Atop the High Line
by Aurelia Butler 21 October 2024, 18:37
“Dinosaur.” All photos by Timothy Schneck, courtesy of the High Line, shared with permission
From Reviled to Revered, an Enormous Pigeon Perches Atop the High Line
October 21, 2024
ArtNature
Grace Ebert
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The latest sculpture to grace New York City’s High Line is a monumental tribute to an unlikely creature.
Perched above 10th Avenue, a hyper-realistic pigeon stops to rest in the outdoor pavilion. The work of artist Iván Argote (previously), the hand-painted, aluminum bird is titled “Dinosaur” and looms 21 feet in the air, rivaling the enormous proportions of some of its ancestors.
Argote is known for questioning the role of monuments and statues, particularly as they relate to colonial histories and power imbalances. For this work, he upends the human-animal relationship and notions of migration and value as the common street bird is vaulted into a glorified figure, peering down on pedestrians and drivers. The artist says in a statement:
The name “Dinosaur” makes reference to the sculpture’s scale and to the pigeon’s ancestors who millions of years ago dominated the globe, as we humans do today… the name also serves as a reference to the dinosaur’s extinction. Like them, one day we won’t be around anymore, but perhaps a remnant of humanity will live on—as pigeons do—in the dark corners and gaps of future worlds.
Despite their ubiquity throughout North American cities, pigeons aren’t native to the continent. The birds were initially brought from Europe as a barnyard animal and food source, but as they escaped into the wild, they grew into the scavenging flocks they are today. No longer domesticated and not quite wild, pigeons occupy a unique position.
Argote’s work is a cheeky nod to the birds and suggests they’re more deserving of appreciation than some of the figures we’ve collectively honored in the past. Standing tall and confident atop a concrete plinth, the sculpture also serves as a reminder that “everyone is an immigrant,” a statement says. “Even the pigeon, a New York fixture, initially migrated here and made the city their home, like millions of other ‘native’ New Yorkers.”
“Dinosaur” will be on view through spring. Find more from Argote on Instagram.
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Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail
by Aurelia Butler 13 September 2024, 14:51
Detail of “Ancient Diorama Ammonite.” All images © Hiné Mizushima, shared with permission
Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail
September 13, 2024
Art Craft Nature
Grace Ebert
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Nested in one of Hiné Mizushima’s wooden dioramas is an ancient marine menagerie. Vibrant blue felt lines the walls of the plush environment, which houses a pair of ammonites along with tall seagrass and small bits of coral reef.
From her Vancouver studio, Mizushima stitches whimsical renditions of underwater creatures. Her soft, fiber sculptures take a playful approach to natural life, sometimes perching an octopus atop a human heart or finding a moray eel slithering out of an artery. Often depicted in pastel colors and adorned with beads and crocheted details, the creatures are friendly and even glitzy interpretations of their real-life counterparts.
The works shown here will be on view in Mizushima’s solo show Creatures and Curiosities on view from September 14 to October 22 at Boris Zakkaten in Tokyo. Find more on Instagram.
“Ancient Diorama Ammonite”
“Heart Moray Eel”
Detail of “Heart Moray Eel”
“Ancient Diorama Squids”
Detail of “Ancient Diorama Squids”
“Heart Ocotpus”
“Heart Squid”
Detail of “Heart Squid”
“Bugs 1”
“Bugs 2”
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Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’
by Aurelia Butler 10 September 2024, 16:03
Left: “Collie Pheasant” (2023). Right: “St. Bernard Pheasant” (2023). Both mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 10.5 x 8 x 3.5 inches. All images © Debra Broz, courtesy of Track 16 Gallery, shared with permission
Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’
September 10, 2024
Art Craft
Kate Mothes
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Vintage, mass-produced porcelain knick-knacks take on new life in Debra Broz’s intricate and uncanny hybrids (previously). Collies and St. Bernards with the bodies of pheasants meet rabbits with curiously long appendages and woodland creatures with human arms.
In her solo exhibition Strange World at Track 16, Broz continues to explore the subversive and absurd through the leitmotif of midcentury kitsch. Whether merging two small sculptures or creating elaborate amalgamations, the artist finds the humor—and just a tinge of unease—in busyness, cuteness, and perplexity.
“Weight of the World” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 34 x 18 x 18 inches
Strange World, which incorporates dozens of sculptures and glazed platters, revolves around three maximalist assemblages made of hundreds of individual figurines Broz collected during the past decade. Clusters of adorable animals like big-eyed bunnies, ducks, and cows emerge from bases as if blossoming with energy.
In a statement for the show, Track 16 describes the pieces as “darkly optimistic, synthesizing the confusion of limitless information.” Chaotic and idiosyncratically beautiful, Broz’s pieces tap into our contemporary social reality, balancing tension and overwhelm with moments of levity and clarity.
Strange World continues through October 12 in Los Angeles. Find more on Broz’s website and Instagram.
Detail of “Weight of the World”
“Slightly Human: Cat & Skunk” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 4 x 5 x 3 inches
“Slightly Human: Squirrels” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 5.25 x 7.5 x 4 inches
“Galaxy Brain” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 25 x 22 x 18 inches
Detail of “Galaxy Brain”
“Slightly Human: Horse (The Champion)” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 8.5 x 7 x 4 inches
“White Rabbit No. 33” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 6 x 4 x 2 inches
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animals

Latest story

Quentin Garel’s Lifelike Sculptures Transport Us to the ‘Faraway Forest’

More stories

Bruno Pontiroli’s Absurd Portraits Highlight Quirky Behavior and Zoological Buffoonery

Dressed to the Canines: Helga Stentzel Styles Playful Clothesline Illusions

Thriving Habitats by Stéphanie Kilgast Emerge from Plastic Bottles and Recycled Objects

Energetic Characters Collide in Roco’s Bold, Cartoonish Jumbles

On Canvas and Shell, Alexis Trice Paints Ethereal Scenes Gleaming with Energy

From Reviled to Revered, an Enormous Pigeon Perches Atop the High Line

Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail

Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’

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