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An Expanded Edition of JR’s Monograph Recounts the Power of Socially Engaged Art
by Aurelia Butler 4 October 2024, 18:37
All images © JR, courtesy of Phaidon, shared with permission
An Expanded Edition of JR’s Monograph Recounts the Power of Socially Engaged Art
October 4, 2024
ArtBooksSocial Issues
Jackie Andres
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Traveling to different regions across the globe, French artist JR envisions grand projects that call to humanitarian issues and collective action. At the forefront of his practice is a persistent query, rooted in a palpable yearning for change and strong belief in the power of art.
JR: Can Art Change the World? chronicles the artist’s phenomenal range of participatory efforts, from mural-laden buildings to photographic installations to performance art. Originally published in 2015 and later updated in 2019, an even newer edition featuring a half-decade of JR’s latest works is slated for release by Phaidon later this month. The 2024 version includes a whopping 390 photos and illustrations, as well as a foreword by George Lucas.
Among the four new chapters included in the expansion, you might recognize more recent projects such as “Tehachapi,” a poignant collection of murals focused on the lives of incarcerated individuals, and impressive optical illusions from the artist’s ongoing “Trompe l’œil” series.
Pre-order JR: Can Art Change the World? in the Colossal Shop to be one of the first to page through the monograph.
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Symmetric Paper Collages by Haegue Yang Commune with the Spiritual
by Aurelia Butler 2 October 2024, 19:08
“Splashing Volcano Ash Gaze–
Mesmerizing Mesh #140” (2022), Hanji on alu-dibond, framed, 62 x 62 centimeters. All photos by Studio Haegue Yang, courtesy of the artist and The Arts Club of Chicago, shared with permission
Symmetric Paper Collages by Haegue Yang Commune with the Spiritual
October 2, 2024
Art
Grace Ebert
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Known for immersive sculptures and installations that engage the senses, Seoul-born artist Haegue Yang looks toward common materials and traditional craft techniques to explore pressing issues. She often transforms domestic objects like Venetian blinds, electrical fans, and even cans of Spam into dynamic, abstract works that comment on sociopolitical topics like migration, labor, and exile.
Although the artist has risen to international recognition for her three-dimensional pieces, an exhibition at The Arts Club of Chicago peers into another side of her practice. Flat Works surveys two decades of Yang’s paintings, prints, and collages, including her captivating series, Mesmerizing Mesh.
“Flower Explosion Radial Folds–Mesmerizing Mesh #124” (2022), Hanji, graph paper on alu-dibond
Geometric, floral motifs characterize the alluring compositions made from cut and folded hanji, paper derived from mulberry bark. Mesmerizing Mesh references shamanistic traditions, particularly in Korea, Japan, China, and Slavic regions, and what comes from communing with the spirit world.
According to a statement about the series, the symmetric works allude to “sumun, a sheet hung from the ceiling in rituals…to keep away evil spirits,” while the more figurative, anthropomorphic pieces “resemble soul sheets (nukjeon), in which the shaman blows a spirit treated as the identical entity of the deceased being honored.”
Like her sculptures, these collages similarly recontextualize a humble, everyday material. Although they’re two-dimensional, the layered works convey depth, each appearing as a kind of portal guiding viewers into an entrancing, mystical realm.
Flat Works continues through December 20 in Chicago.
“Fluoroscopic-Powered Fire Bird-Mesmerizing Mesh #130” (2022), Hanji on alu-dibond, framed, 62 x 62 centimeters
“Blood Moon Finger-Pulling Bloom Formation–Mesmerizing Mesh #107” (2022), Hanji on alu-dibond
“Rainbow Mist Germination Soul Sheet–Mesmerizing Mesh #184” (2023), Hanji, washi on alu-dibond
“Thunder-Powered Ash Entrails Soul Streamers–Mesmerizing Mesh #148” (2022), Hanji on alu-dibond
“Head Altar Formation–Mesmerizing Mesh #49” (2021), Hanji, graph paper on alu-dibond
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Papier Mâché Bat Masks by Jym Davis Take Wing in Bold Portraits
by Aurelia Butler 2 October 2024, 16:00
White bat, Florida. All images courtesy of Jym Davis, shared with permission
Papier Mâché Bat Masks by Jym Davis Take Wing in Bold Portraits
October 2, 2024
Art Craft Nature Photography
Kate Mothes
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Atlanta-based artist Jym Davis, who also goes by False Face, has a thing for bats. He began making masks of the winged mammals during a series of residencies at national parks in the American West. In Arizona, he learned about Townsend’s big-eared bat and critically threatened species like the pallid bat in Northern California, Oregon, and Idaho.
“(The Townsend’s big-eared bat’s) scrunched up, wrinkly faces, and huge ears seemed so sculptural and beautifully grotesque to me,” Davis tells Colossal. “The more strange and exotic bats I discovered, the more I was inspired to push my sculpting and painting techniques.”
Pallid bat, Idaho
When entering the caves or lava tubes that the bats call home, Davis takes precautions to help protect the animals from contagious diseases and fungi that visitors can track in on their shoes. “In the past century, bats were villainized and intentionally eradicated,” he says. “I think I have a particular fondness for bats because they are so historically misunderstood.”
Drawn to ancient European festival traditions and materials used for centuries, Davis began making masks as a way to connect his work to history and the land.
“For instance, I really love sculpting with papier mâché because it goes back hundreds of years,” he says. “I sew bells and ribbons into my outfits because it is another old festival element—even referenced by Shakespeare.” He typically avoids modern materials, especially anything made of plastic.
Townsend’s big-eared bat, Arizona
While Davis’s designs are based on real creatures, he often embellishes the masks with bold patterns, colors, and geometries. The pieces are part of a broader, ongoing body of work that he describes as a “menagerie of mythological characters,” which include a series of otherworldly avian creatures called Flood Birds and a grouping inspired by moths and butterflies titled Morph Angels, among others.
Davis dons the masks amid natural settings and captures each personality in striking photographs and performances. This month, he is headed to Joshua Tree, California, for some photo sessions in preparation for his forthcoming book focused on Morph Angels.
The artist currently has an albatross mask on view in FORAGE: OCEANS at Dorado 806 Projects in Los Angeles through October 12. Some of his masks are also available for sale on his website, and you can follow updates on Instagram.
You might also enjoy Ashley Suszczynski’s ongoing documentation of ancient masked traditions.
Bat, Florida
Red bat, California
Bat, Florida
Pallid bat, Idaho
White bat, Florida
Red bat, Idaho
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From Fire to Wind, JiSook Jung’s Ceramic Sculptures Animate the Elements
by Aurelia Butler 2 October 2024, 13:15
“Animal in the Wind” (2014), clay, 36.7 x 20.8 x 30 centimeters. All images courtesy of JiSook Jung, shared with permission
From Fire to Wind, JiSook Jung’s Ceramic Sculptures Animate the Elements
October 2, 2024
Art
Kate Mothes
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JiSook Jung has long been drawn to clay for its inherent malleability. “Clay has the advantage of being able to quickly mold an image in my head into a visual form because it is soft and plastic,” the Seoul-based artist tells Colossal. “In that sense, I think clay is an intuitive and instinctive material.”
Jung’s pensive, abstracted beings sprout limbs and minimal—if any—facial features. Each piece is vaguely animalistic and evocative of weather, the elements, and organic textures. A cloud walks on four legs, a green flame looks back at us with two beady eyes, or a wavy, blue being takes on the physical persona of wind.
“Walking Daydream” (2024), clay and foam clay, 49 x 36 x 46.5 centimeters
Many of Jung’s works tap into universal human experiences and concerns, like dreams, possibilities, and ego. “Potential,” for example, highlights a slightly bulbous, pink form that stands on four legs, as if preparing to metamorphose into something altogether new.
Jung’s work has recently shifted from an emphasis on figures to more abstracted creatures, focusing on textures and color. After an experience that deeply impacted her personal life, she felt encouraged to explore new directions in her work. “I’m coming out of an old shell and welcoming a new world,” she says.
Jung will open a solo exhibition on November 16 at Simple Object in Taipei. Find more on Instagram.
“Mass of Ego” (2024), clay and synthetic resin, 14 x 19.3 x 34.5 centimeters
“Burn Green” (2024), clay, 29.5 x 14 x 47.2 centimeters
“Potential” (2019), clay, 17 x 12 x 32 centimeters
“Free Animal” (2024), clay, 43.5 x 16.3 x 38 centimeters
“Wind” (2024), clay, 18.5 x 14 x 54.5 centimeters
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Frosted Works by Yvette Mayorga Divulge Issues That Are Anything but Saccharine
by Aurelia Butler 1 October 2024, 18:00
Installation view of ‘La Jaula de Oro’ at Museo de Arte de Zapopan. Photo by Lazarillo. All images courtesy of the artist and Museo de Arte de Zapopan, shared with permission
Frosted Works by Yvette Mayorga Divulge Issues That Are Anything but Saccharine
October 1, 2024
Art Social Issues
Kate Mothes
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In a pink, glowing Rococo setting, Yvette Mayorga’s first solo exhibition in Mexico dives into nostalgia, teenage dreams, and how sometimes a sugary coating can conceal crucial truths.
For La Jaula de Oro—The Golden Cage—at Museo de Arte de Zapopan, the Chicago-based artist (previously) has created four acrylic-piped paintings on canvas and a series of mixed-media sculptures. These include a 1974 Datsun coated in crochet, plush and plastic toys, acrylic nails, faux fur, rosaries, and other ephemera. Pop singer Selena’s song “Dreaming of You” wafts from the car stereo.
“Bien chiqueada” (2024), acrylic nails, nail charms, toy snake, toy scorpion, clock, scorpion belt, collage, and acrylic piping on canvas, 91.44 x 121.92 centimeters
At first glance, Mayorga’s compositions appear like delicate, frosted confections, glittering with nail charms and predominantly made in various shades of pink. But upon closer inspection, reminders of a slightly more unsettling reality begin to emerge, such as scorpions, clocks, or mirrors—nods to our relationship with time, others, and our mortality.
The artist draws on the tradition of vanitas painting, a style popularized during the Dutch Golden Age, often in the form of still lifes brimming with visual cues that power and glory mean nothing when confronted with the inevitability of death.
For Mayorga, the supple forms of piped bows, rosettes, and borders belie important messages centered around border control, immigrant labor, rampant capitalism, and pop culture.
Akin to the way cookies or cakes are created to be literally consumed, the artist toys with the notion of fleetingness. “La princesa (Ride or Die),” for example, captures a sense of ephemerality and impermanence: “here today and gone tomorrow,” says curator Maya Renée Escárcega.
Detail of “Bien chiqueada”
The artist invites viewers into a seemingly carefree, saccharine space evocative of the opulence of the late 18th century—the era of Marie Antoinette and her famous—if mythical—quote: “Let them eat cake.” Considered the “Rococo Queen,” she is associated with luxury and frivolity, and she came to symbolize the excesses of the wealthy during a period when many people couldn’t afford bread, let alone the delicacies of cake.
Mayorga’s primary medium is acrylic applied using a pastry bag. She references women workers—especially women of color—from whom colonial discourse stripped notions of femininity assigned to white women. She expands upon the framework of Rococo to analyze 21st-century issues, simultaneously serving us a reminder of the sacrifices and toil required to produce what capitalist society consumes.
La Jaula de Oro and continues in Zapopan through January 5. Find more on Mayorga’s website and Instagram.
Detail of “Banquete (Banquet)” (2024), hi-temperature ceramics, resin candle holders, bronze figures, and candles, dimensions variable. Photo by Lazarillo
Installation view of La Jaula de Oro
“Capitalist Clown” (2024), collage, acrylic marker, pastel, toy scorpion, and acrylic piping on canvas, 91. 44 x 121.92 centimeters
Detail of “La princesa (Ride or Die)” (2024), crochet, plush toys, plastic toys, acrylic nails, rosaries, faux fur, belt buckles, vinyl stickers, ceramic tchotchkes, clock, toy cell phone, found license plate, trophy, wood, 161 acrylic roses, and acrylic piping on a 1974 Nissan Datsun, 4 x 1.6 meters. Photo by Lazarillo
Detail of “La princesa (Ride or Die).” Photo by Lazarillo
“Made in Mexico (Fecit Mexici)” (2024), mirror, hand mirror, acrylic nails, nail charms, clock, toy scorpion, collage, and acrylic piping on canvas, 91.44 x 121.92 centimeters
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Titus Kaphar Paints Memories, Family, and Grief into ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’
by Aurelia Butler 1 October 2024, 13:33
“I hear you in my head” (2023), oil on canvas, 72 x 84 inches. Photos by Owen Conway. All images © Titus Kaphar, courtesy of Gagosian, shared with permission
Titus Kaphar Paints Memories, Family, and Grief into ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’
October 1, 2024
Art Film
Kate Mothes
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From a makeshift bike ramp to an uphill struggle with a lawn mower, the scenes in Titus Kaphar’s oil paintings are simultaneously familiar and personal. Drawing on memories, he contemplates the meaning of family, community, loss, grief, and everyday life in working-class America.
These works, shown in a gallery setting for the first time at Gagosian, were made for the artist’s semi-autobiographical, debut film, Exhibiting Forgiveness, which screened at Sundance earlier this year and comprises the centerpiece of the presentation.
“Some things can’t be worked out on canvas” (2023), oil on canvas, 120 x 108 inches
Featuring André Holland (Moonlight and Passing) alongside Andra Day and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, the film was written and directed by Kaphar and follows the story of an accomplished painter whose life is upended by an unexpected reunion with his estranged father.
Springing “from the same personal, emotional and psychological well” that provides the source for all of his work, Kaphar portrays neighborhood houses, figures, and personal objects that transport us to both the artist’s childhood and the universal experiences associated with coming of age.
In “So vulnerable,” for example, two of the three figures scaling a fence have been rubbed out, as if time or unknown events have erased all but their ghostly impressions. In “I hear you in my head,” a figure cutting the lawn has been removed from the canvas altogether, leaving only a void.
Exhibiting Forgiveness continues through November 2 at Gagosian Beverly Hills, and the film is slated for release in theaters nationwide on October 18. Find more on the artist’s website.
“La’Ron” (2023), oil on canvas, 91 x 75 1/2 inches
Installation view of Exhibiting Forgiveness
“So vulnerable” (2023), oil on canvas, 120 x 108 inches
“Smoldering embers” (2023), oil on canvas, 72 x 83 inches
Actor Andre Holland in Exhibiting Forgiveness. Image courtesy of Roadside Attractions
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Honeybees Have the Final Say in Ava Roth’s Collaborative Sculptures
by Aurelia Butler 30 September 2024, 19:33
Detail of “Horseshoe, Quills and Thorns,” encaustic, Japanese paper, horseshoe, porcupine quills, thorns, embroidery floss, metallic thread, seed beads, natural honeycomb, and local Ontario maple frame, 17.5 x 17.5 inches. All images courtesy of Ava Roth, shared with permission
Honeybees Have the Final Say in Ava Roth’s Collaborative Sculptures
September 30, 2024
Art Nature
Kate Mothes
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Bees get a bad rap a lot of the time, despite the immense benefits they provide—and those go way beyond honey. Responsible for pollinating one-third of the world’s food supply, the buzzing insects ensure we’re able to enjoy coffee, tomatoes, strawberries, vanilla, and myriad other kinds of produce.
The climate crisis, habitat destruction, pesticides, and invasive species are among numerous factors that have led to an unprecedented decline in honeybee populations during the past two decades. But for Toronto-based artist Ava Roth (previously), visibility is a major tenet of her unique, collaborative practice.
“Kintsugi Platter, Black,” 21 x 21 inches
Within concentric wooden frames, Roth embroiders patterns with thread and beads, creating the groundwork for the next phase of her process: inserting individual works into her hive and inviting the bees to determine the final composition.
The human relationship to nature, mirrored by what Roth describes as the”tension between control and wildness,” considers our role in shaping nature to our own needs and the consequences of our actions.
Bees instinctively build walls of prismatic cells to protect their brood and store honey and pollen, and the organic geometry doubles in Roth’s pieces not only as an iconic aesthetic but also as a reminder of the creatures’ remarkable abilities.
Recently, the artist has been experimenting with three-dimensional structures and round frames, departing from the rectangular format traditionally associated with hives. She’s also embarked on a new kintsugi-style series in which the bees “mend” broken shards of pottery with their comb.
Find more on Roth’s website and Instagram.
Detail of “Broken Pottery, Mended,” 21 x 21 inches
Detail of “Kintsugi Platter, Robin’s Egg Blue,” 21 x 21 inches
“Broken Pottery, Mended,” 21 x 21 inches
“White Beaded Lace, Circle,” encaustic, Japanese paper, Japanese lace, embroidery floss, seed beads, natural honeycomb, and local Ontario maple frame, 17.5 x 17.5 inches
Honeycomb objects made from rock, deer antler, basket, and egg with pine needles, wrapped in waxed metallic cord
“Horseshoe, Quills and Thorns”
Detail of “Japanese Lace, Gold and Black,” encaustic, Japanese paper, Japanese ribbon, metallic thread, seed beads, natural honeycomb, and local Ontario maple frame, 17.5 x 17.5 inches
“Deer Antler and Honeycomb,” deer antler, waxed cord, and honeycomb
“Sea and Sky, Blue Kyanite Encaustic,” Japanese paper, blue kyanite crystals, gold leaf, embroidery floss, and natural honeycomb on wood panel, 17.5 x 17.5 inches
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In YoYo Lander’s Dynamic Portraits, Layers of Stained Paper Capture Light and Shadow
by Aurelia Butler 27 September 2024, 16:46
Detail of “Hold That Thought #1” (2021), stained, washed and collaged watercolor paper on watercolor paper, 20 x 16 inches. All images courtesy of YoYo Lander, shared with permission
In YoYo Lander’s Dynamic Portraits, Layers of Stained Paper Capture Light and Shadow
September 27, 2024
Art
Grace Ebert
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From individually stained snippets of watercolor paper, YoYo Lander collages elaborate portraits.
Each work begins with a photo session during which the artist focuses on capturing the sitter’s unique gestures, poses, and expressions. She then combines the reference images into a singular composition that conveys a particular emotion or experience.
“Kara”
In a recent body of work, Lander dresses her sitters in the same green sweater, the kindred knit signifying personal and collective growth and transformation. Similar to earlier pieces like “Hold That Thought #1” and “The Parts of Me That Get No Applause #2,” the more recent portraits are dynamic and impeccably constructed to convey light hitting a cheekbone or the shadow of a garment fold. Viewed up close, the textured, layered paper adds immense intricacy and depth to the already lively compositions.
Many works shown here are included in Lander’s solo show Yesterday Was Hard, which is curated by Superposition Gallery for Phillips Los Angeles and on view until October 11. The artist frequently shares glimpses into her process on Instagram, so head there for more.
“Hold That Thought #1” (2021), stained, washed, and collaged watercolor paper on watercolor paper, 20 x 16 inches
Detail of “Naty”
“The Parts of Me That Get No Applause #2” (2022), stained, washed and collaged watercolor paper on watercolor paper, 24 x 15.5 inches
Detail of “Helen”
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Art

More stories

Symmetric Paper Collages by Haegue Yang Commune with the Spiritual

Papier Mâché Bat Masks by Jym Davis Take Wing in Bold Portraits

From Fire to Wind, JiSook Jung’s Ceramic Sculptures Animate the Elements

Titus Kaphar Paints Memories, Family, and Grief into ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’

Honeybees Have the Final Say in Ava Roth’s Collaborative Sculptures

In YoYo Lander’s Dynamic Portraits, Layers of Stained Paper Capture Light and Shadow

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