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

    “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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    From Computer Keys and Bottle Caps, Moffat Takadiwa’s Tapestries Collapse Geographies

    “Age of Exploration” (2024), computer keys and toothbrush head in plastic, 43 5/16 × 94 1/2 × 1 15/16 inches

    From Computer Keys and Bottle Caps, Moffat Takadiwa’s Tapestries Collapse Geographies

    October 23, 2024

    ArtSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    For the past ten years, Moffat Takadiwa has collected discarded computer keyboards, toothbrushes, pens, and bottle caps among numerous other objects. He conceives of sweeping, abstract forms that from a distance emphasize curving, organic forms and pops of color. Up close, the pieces reveal deconstructed, everyday items bound into expansive tapestries.

    Based in Mbare, a working-class suburb of Harare, Zimbabwe, Takadiwa taps into the city’s informal economy of recycling and reselling the vast quantities of second-hand electronics and plastics imported from Europe.

    Detail of “Age of Exploration”

    Since the late 20th century, artists like El Anatsui, Ifeoma U. Anyaeji, and Takadiwa have comprised a dynamic movement of African artists who work exclusively with recycled or repurposed materials.

    In his solo exhibition, The Reverse Deal at Semiose, the artist continues his exploration of the legacy of colonialism, geography and global trade, and the visual potential of language. The title reads like a trade agreement, nodding to historical economic and political maneuvers by European nations to control the flow of goods through colonized African regions.

    The computer keys represent what the artist describes as a decolonized vocabulary, connecting the present to the past while addressing the nature of interdependent communities around the world.

    “Moffat Takadiwa’s works are akin to algorithms relentlessly producing variants of the same narrative,” says curator N’Gonné Fall in the exhibition statement.

    “Yellow for Gold” (2024), toothbrush heads, belt buckles, and computer keys, 92 15/16 × 74 7/16 × 3 15/16 inches

    The artist consistently returns to the motif of the circle, invoking a symbol of infinity and a universal form found in everyday objects. The shape also mirrors of the outline of Great Zimbabwe, the medieval capital of a kingdom that spanned present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

    He is fascinated by the role of waterways as transport routes for goods, both historically and today, and the way vestiges of colonialism continue to impact contemporary society.

    The Reverse Deal in Paris through November 16. Takadiwa is also represented by Nicodim, where you can explore more of his large-scale works, and find more on the artist’s Instagram.

    “Belt re-simbi/metal belt” (2024), plastic computer and calculator keys and belt buckles, 57 1/16 × 143 11/16 × 5 7/8 inches

    Installation view of ‘The Reverse Deal’ at Semiose, Paris

    “White Circle” (2023), computer keys in plastic, 69 11/16 × 69 11/16 inches

    “The tobacco farms” (2024), computer and calculator keys, bottle tops, and toothbrushes in plastic, 78 3/4 × 57 1/16 × 1 15/16 inches

    “White toothpaste b” (2024), tubes of toothpaste, defunct bank notes, and metal belt buckles, 21 5/8 × 19 11/16 × 19 11/16 inches

    Installation view of ‘The Reverse Deal’ at Semiose, Paris

    Detail of “KoreKore Handwriting III” (2023), computer keys and toothbrush heads in plastic, 100 13/16 × 67 11/16 inches

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    Energetic Characters Collide in Roco’s Bold, Cartoonish Jumbles

    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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    Peels and Folds Soften José Manuel Castro López’s Fleshy Stone Sculptures

    Untitled (2017), granite, 26 x 18 x 11 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Cadogan Gallery, shared with permission

    Peels and Folds Soften José Manuel Castro López’s Fleshy Stone Sculptures

    October 22, 2024

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Delicately peeled skin and supple folds appear where we’d least expect them in José Manuel Castro López’s stone sculptures (previously). From small boulders of granite and quartz found near his home in A Coruña, Spain, the artist carves and polishes delicate wrinkles that suggest fabric or the malleability of smashed, wet clay. For example, “Recorte de Piel,” or “Skin Peeling,” resembles an angular slice of potato skin carefully pulled away.

    A few works shown here are part of López’s exhibition at Cadogan Solo in Milan, which continues through October 31. Keep an eye on his Instagram for updates.

    “Dedo de Dios” (2023), granite, 13 x 9 x 4 inches. Image courtesy of Cadogan Gallery

    “Recorte de Piel” (2021), granite, 15 x 12 x 5 inches. Image courtesy of Cadogan Gallery

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

    “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

    “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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    Emily Van Hoff Sculpts Facets of Color in Vibrant, Dimensional Quilts

    All images courtesy of Emily Van Hoff, shared with permission

    Emily Van Hoff Sculpts Facets of Color in Vibrant, Dimensional Quilts

    October 21, 2024

    ArtCraftDesign

    Kate Mothes

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    For Emily Van Hoff (previously), the possibilities of quilts extend far beyond two dimensions. From geometric tapestries to faceted weavings and sculptural constructions, the artist traverses a wide array of textile forms.

    “I love giving my quilts more visual weight,” Van Hoff tells Colossal. “I like when they feel more chunky and object-like… So I’ve been exploring a variety of ways to accomplish that.”

    Van Hoff often revisits original sketches and offcuts of earlier pieces, puzzling together new works with a variety of textures, hues, and configurations. One striking recent experiment takes the shape of three chain links, which can be displayed in various orientations by sliding the components around, revealing unique angles and color combinations.

    “Some of my wall hangings have also used pieces that sort of overlap and weave through each other,” Van Hoff says, “and the chain link is the continuation of that idea as well.”

    The artist recently announced a line of quilting fabric she designed for Moda Fabrics titled Groove, which will be available in stores starting in May next year. The collection expands on her vibrant palette and playful, squiggly motifs.

    “My background is in graphic design,” Van Hoff says. “I’ve always loved textile design, and I worked in a fabric shop in high school, so this is a real dream-come-true moment!”

    Explore more on the artist’s website, where she adds pieces to her shop from time to time, and follow updates on Instagram.

    ‘Groove’ series of designs for Moda Fabrics

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    In ‘Hidden Portraits,’ Volker Hermes Reimagines Historical Figures in Overwhelming Frippery

    “Hidden van Mierevelt IV” (2022), from “Portrait of a Man in a White Frill” (1620s) by Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt

    In ‘Hidden Portraits,’ Volker Hermes Reimagines Historical Figures in Overwhelming Frippery

    October 18, 2024

    ArtBooksHistory

    Kate Mothes

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    Engulfed in their own finery, the subjects of Volker Hermes’ portraits epitomize a bygone era. From the Italian High Renaissance to French Rococo, his digital reinterpretations playfully hide the faces of wealthy and aristocratic sitters.

    Hidden Portraits: Old Masters Reimagined, a new book forthcoming this month, gathers a quintessential selection of Hermes’ 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.

    “Hidden Wright of Derby” (2023), from “Portrait of Dorothy Beridge, née Gladwin” (1777) by Joseph Wright of Derby

    Hermes expands upon the ornate silk gowns, brocade, and lace ruffs that characterized elite fashion through the centuries (previously). An enormous bow cocoons a woman in “Hidden Wright of Derby,” for example, elaborating on a portrait of a wealthy woman painted by Joseph Wright of Derby, now in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

    In striking profile, strings of pearls and a green, helmet-like hood envelop Bianca Maria Sforza, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, in “Hidden de Predis,” the 15th-century inspiration for which can be viewed at the National Gallery of Art.

    Explore more of Hermes’ work on his website, and snag a copy of Hidden Portraits on Bookshop.

    “Hidden de Predis” (2023), from “Portrait Bianca Maria Sforza” (1493-95) by the workshop of Ambrogio de Predis

    “Hidden Titian II” (2021), from “Portrait of a Man with a Quilted Sleeve” (1511) by Titian

    “Hidden de Bray” (2022), from “Portrait of a Young Woman” (1667) by Jan de Bray

    “Hidden Cornelius Johnson” (2023), from “Portrait of Thomas, 1st Baron Coventry” (1631) by Cornelius Johnson

    “Hidden de Keyser” (2019), from “Portrait of a Gentleman” (c. 1626) by Thomas de Keyser

    “Hidden Pourbus VIII” (2023), from “Portrait of a Nobleman” (1593) by Frans Pourbus the Younger

    “Hidden Anonymous (Munich Court Painter)” (2023), from “Portrait of a Young Lady” (1623), by an unknown artist

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

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