Architecture

Subterms

    Latest story

    138 Shares151 Views

    Lush Growths and Classical Architecture Converge in Eva Jospin’s Meticulous Sculptures

    by

    “Forêt” (2024), wood, cardboard, 94 1/2 x 133 7/8 x 19 3/4 inches. All images courtesy of Mariane Ibrahim, shared with permission

    Lush Growths and Classical Architecture Converge in Eva Jospin’s Meticulous Sculptures

    November 16, 2024

    ArtNature

    Grace Ebert

    Share

    Pin

    Email

    Bookmark

    Rather than position herself as an observer of landscapes, Eva Jospin imagines humans and their environments as one. The Parisian artist carves intricate forests and stately architecture subsumed by vines and craggy cliffs all from humble cardboard, accentuating the corrugated textures to add depth and intrigue.

    In her Chicago debut at Mariane Ibrahim, Jospin presents a series of freestanding sculptures and wall works that invite the viewer to venture into her large-scale, yet incredibly intricate worlds. Titled Vanishing Points, the exhibition gestures toward perspective and the ways subtle details and contemplation can shift how we see.

    “Forêt troglodyte” (2024), wood, cardboard, and mixed media, 72 1/2 x 59 x 31 1/2 inches

    As with earlier bodies of work, Jospin’s paper sculptures and vivid, silk tapestries draw on classical styles and the 18th-century tradition of follies, architectural structures designed for decoration. These often ornate buildings could be found in many Baroque gardens, which took human mastery over nature as an imperative.

    The artist’s works instead depict a convergence between the manufactured and the organic. In the six-foot tall “Forêt troglodyte,” for example, vines crawl down from a ceiling embedded with shells and sea sponges. The exquisite vault stands parallel to a similarly shaped cavern, occupied by trees rising from a rugged bluff.

    Jospin walks viewers through her process and studio in the video below. If you’re in Chicago, see Vanishing Points before January 25.

    Detail of “Forêt troglodyte” (2024), wood, cardboard, and mixed media, 72 1/2 x 59 x 31 1/2 inches

    “Capriccio” (2024), wood, cardboard, and mixed media, 76 3/8 x 41 3/8 x 21 5/8 inches

    Detail of “Capriccio” (2024), wood, cardboard, and mixed media, 76 3/8 x 41 3/8 x 21 5/8 inches

    “Jardin Constantine” (2024), silk thread, silk canvas, wood and cardboard frame,46 x 96 7/8 x 4 inches

    “Jardin Constantine” (2024), silk thread, silk canvas, wood and cardboard frame,46 x 96 7/8 x 4 inches

    “Petit Bois” (2024), wood, cardboard, 28 x 34 1/2 x 9 1/4 inches

    “Treille” (2024), silk thread, silk canvas, wood and cardboard frame, 100 3/4 x 69 1/4 x 4 inches

    Detail of “Forêt” (2024), wood, cardboard, 94 1/2 x 133 7/8 x 19 3/4 inches

    Detail of “Treille” (2024), silk thread, silk canvas, wood, and cardboard frame, 100 3/4 x 69 1/4 x 4 inches

    “Labyrinthe” (2024), wood, cardboard, and mixed media, 41 x 39 3/8 x 27 1/2 inches

    Detail of “Labyrinthe” (2024), wood, cardboard, and mixed media, 41 x 39 3/8 x 27 1/2 inches

    Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

    Hide advertising

    Save your favorite articles

    Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

    Receive members-only newsletter

    Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

    Join us today!

    $7/month

    $75/year

    Explore membership options

    Next article More

    More stories

    • 188 Shares199 Views

      in Art

      In ‘Seeking an Exit,’ Gretchen Scherer Escapes to Grand Homes and Galleries of the Past

      by

      “Lanhydrock, Morning Room” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 18 x 24 inches. All images courtesy of Gretchen Scherer and Monya Rowe Gallery, shared with permission

      In ‘Seeking an Exit,’ Gretchen Scherer Escapes to Grand Homes and Galleries of the Past

      October 17, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

      Share

      Pin

      Email

      Bookmark

      Many of what are now public museums were once the private homes and collections of the wealthy and titled. From the Palace of Aranjuez—still a royal residence in Spain—to the baroque art and gardens of Isola Bella in Italy, Gretchen Scherer captures stunning salon-style galleries and historical interiors in vibrant, intricately detailed paintings (previously).

      In her solo exhibition, Seeking an Exit at Monya Rowe Gallery, Scherer continues to explore art historical destinations around the world. Calling on memory, escapism, and the romance of grand buildings, she transforms ornate halls, drawing rooms, and wunderkammers into inviting, enlivened spaces.

      “Trubetskoy Palace, Dining Room, 1914” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 24 x 30 inches

      Scherer references photographs of museums, sometimes re-imagining historical, black-and-white imagery into colorful compositions, such as the 1914 dining room at Trubetskoy Palace, Moscow.

      The works lining the hall comprise the holdings of Sergei Skchukin, a Russian businessman, whose art collection was nationalized after the 1917 Bolshevik uprising. Today, these pieces are distributed among state museums.

      Scherer’s paintings welcome us to remarkable places around the globe, many of which we may no longer be able to visit. Through intimate details, like a napkin draped over the edge of a table or a chair pulled out as if someone has just left, the artist draws foremost upon each location’s identity as a lived-in place.

      Seeking an Exit opens today and continues through November 23. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “Palace of Aranjuez, Porcelain Room” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 18 x 24 inches

      “Palazzo Borromeo, Isola Bella, Berthier Gallery” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 18 x 24 inches

      “Sir John Soane’s Museum, Drawing Office” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 24 x 30 inches

      “Sanssouci Palace, Library and Picture Gallery” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 18 x 24 inches

      “Dom Quartier Cathedral Museum, Art and Wonder Chamber” (2024), oil and acrylic on panel, 14 x 18 inches

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

      Hide advertising

      Save your favorite articles

      Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

      Receive members-only newsletter

      Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

      Join us today!

      $7/month

      $75/year

      Explore membership options

      Previous articleNext article More

    • 125 Shares139 Views

      in Art

      An Ancient Peruvian Site Reveals a Remarkable Painted Throne Room

      by

      All images courtesy of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, shared with permission

      An Ancient Peruvian Site Reveals a Remarkable Painted Throne Room

      September 25, 2024

      Art History Science

      Kate Mothes

      Share

      Pin

      Email

      Bookmark

      Between about 350 and 850 C.E., a society known as the Moche thrived in the coastal valleys of northern Peru. Pañamarca, in the Nepeña Valley, is the southernmost center of the Moche culture and the site of a remarkable series of recent archaeological discoveries, including the latest: a monumental pillared hall with vibrantly painted walls.

      The Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca, founded in 2018, is a collaboration between Peruvian and U.S. archaeologists, art historians, and conservators. Its research and digs are supported by the National Geographic Society, the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University, and the Avenir Conservation Center at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

      This year, archaeologists uncovered a pillared room containing evidence of its use by a high-status female leader. Scenes depict the powerful woman receiving visitors in procession or seated upon a throne.

      “Scholars will debate whether the woman painted on the walls of the throne room is human or mythical (a priestess, goddess, or queen),” researchers say. “But the physical evidence of the throne, including the erosion to its back support and the recovery of greenstone beads, fine threads, and even human hair, make clear that it was occupied by a real living person—and the evidence all points to a seventh-century woman leader of Pañamarca.”

      The figure portrayed on the walls is associated with the crescent moon, the sea and its creatures, and the fiber arts. Additional murals uncovered this past July reveal a scene of an entire workshop of women spinning and weaving, along with a retinue of men carrying textiles and the leader’s crown—which includes her braids.

      Lisa Trever, professor of art history at Columbia University, says, “Pañamarca continues to surprise us, not only for the ceaseless creativity of its painters but also because their works are overturning our expectations of gender roles in the ancient Moche world.”

      The colorful wall paintings of Pañamarca were first recorded in the 1950s, depicting battles between supernatural beings, priests, warriors in procession, a unique two-faced man, and ceremonial activities.

      “Moche archaeology is well known for its rich, elite tombs, impressive architecture and artworks, and elaborate religious artifacts and imagery,” says a project statement. Atop a granite hill, the site consists of a stepped adobe platform, two lower platforms, a walled plaza, and a number of other structures.

      Dig deeper on the Pañamarca project’s website and Instagram.

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

      Hide advertising

      Save your favorite articles

      Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

      Receive members-only newsletter

      Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

      Join us today!

      $7/month

      $75/year

      Explore membership options

      Previous articleNext article More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      Step Into Beguiling Bygone Eras in Jeff Bartels’s ‘Urban Glitch’ Series

      by

      “Urban Glitch 1983,” oil on linen. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

      Step Into Beguiling Bygone Eras in Jeff Bartels’s ‘Urban Glitch’ Series

      September 23, 2024

      Art History

      Kate Mothes

      Share

      Pin

      Email

      Bookmark

      Around the time he turned 50, Jeff Bartels (previously) found himself thinking more and more about memory and nostalgia. “It occurred to me that I could remember certain things from my past exactly, while other memories were mixed up or even wrong,” he tells Colossal. “So I decided to explore that confusion.”

      Bartels’s ongoing series Urban Glitch consists of five paintings so far, each focusing on different years from the recent past, ranging from 1979 to 2001. Each painstakingly detailed composition highlights pop culture of the era, from the latest cars and products to pastimes, music, and fashion.

      Detail of “Urban Glitch 1983”

      The imaginary buildings stack on top of one another and connect via bridges, platforms, and staircases reminiscent of M.C. Escher’s mathematically puzzling architecture.

      Locked in time and space, as if the scenes are “glitching,” Bartels’s thriving urban hubs invoke the sights and sounds of bygone eras. People peer into their fridges, walk their dogs, play games at the arcade, and view paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat or Damien Hirst’s seminal 1991 work of a tiger shark preserved in a tank.

      The artist employs 3D modeling software to create references for each painting rather than photographic sources, so “there is a lot of work done on my computer before I even pick up a brush and being the painting,” he says. “This way, I can create realistic-looking scenes that could not exist in the real world.”

      Each piece takes hundreds of hours to complete due to the meticulous process of defining each building, figure, and tiny, stage-like scene. The artist estimates “1983” took about 850 hours altogether, and while the time commitment alone makes it “easy to burn out on them…” he says, “I do plan on continuing the series with at least a few more.”

      Find more on Bartels’s website and Instagram.

      “Urban Glitch 1985,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

      Detail of “Urban Glitch 1985”

      “Urban Glitch 1979,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

      Detail of “Urban Glitch 1979”

      Detail of “Urban Glitch 1979”

      “Urban Glitch 1991,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

      Detail of “Urban Glitch 1983”

      “Urban Glitch 2001,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

      Detail of “Urban Glitch 2001”

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

      Hide advertising

      Save your favorite articles

      Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

      Receive members-only newsletter

      Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

      Join us today!

      $7/month

      $75/year

      Explore membership options

      Previous articleNext article More

    • 88 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      David Moreno’s Anthropomorphic Foundations Support Cascading Villages

      by

      Detail of “Construcción en cabeza—Cabeza en construcción.” All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

      David Moreno’s Anthropomorphic Foundations Support Cascading Villages

      September 19, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

      Share

      Pin

      Email

      Bookmark

      From thin rods of steel, Barcelona-based artist David Moreno (previously) constructs towering houses and cascading villages that reflect the architecture of our lives. He often incorporates anthropomorphic, anatomical elements, suggesting skeletons or beating hearts.

      For example, “Construcción en cabeza—Cabeza en construcción,” which translates to “head construction—head under construction,” a hillside-like foundation takes the form of a face. And “Resumen 2020,” meaning “Summary 2020,” is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, assuming the silhouette of a human skull.

      “Resumen 2020”

      Moreno’s sculptures alternate between rigidity and fluidity as he manipulates the thick wire into solid walls or curving arcs, such as in “La vie en rose.” Balanced carefully on columns of scaffolding, gabled structures cling somewhat precariously to their supports, referencing the sprawling, stacked hillside favelas like those in Rio de Janeiro.

      The artist is currently conceptualizing a new three-meter-wide installation for an architecture firm in Miami, and he has been scaling down his larger sculptures into gold and silver pendant designs. Check out more of Moreno’s work on Behance, and follow updates on Instagram.

      “Los Del Extrarradio”

      “Construcción en cabeza—Cabeza en construcción”

      “El dorado en expansion II”

      “Vanitas”

      “La vie en rose”

      “Conexion de catedral II”

      “Melodía Circular”

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

      Hide advertising

      Save your favorite articles

      Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

      Receive members-only newsletter

      Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

      Join us today!

      $7/month

      $75/year

      Explore membership options

      Previous articleNext article More