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    • 138 Shares199 Views

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      Flowers Mutate into Peculiar Blossoms in 18th-Century-Style Paintings by Laurent Grasso

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      Art

      #bronze
      #flowers
      #oil painting
      #painting
      #sculptures

      April 13, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Future Herbarium,” distemper on wood, 33.5 x 24 x 4.2 centimeters. Photo by Claire Dorn, courtesy of Perrotin. All images © Laurent Grasso, shared with permission
      In Laurent Grasso’s Future Herbarium, small bunches of flowers evolve into bizarre forms with doubled pistils and petals sprouting in thick layers and tufts. Painted in distemper or oil, the transformed blooms are depicted as typical studies of specimens common in the 18th century. The mutations bring together historical aesthetics and transformations from an imagined future, provoking “an impression of strangeness where beauty and anxiety are mixed,” the Paris-based artist says.
      Grasso works in multiple mediums, from painting to sculpture to film, and the themes of time and transformation permeate many of his projects. Future Herbarium stems from “ARTIFICIALIS,” a film slated for screening at the Musée d’Orsay, that considers the liminal spaces between nature and culture in relation to images. In its presentation at Hong Kong’s Perrotin (which is up through April 24) and the Jeonnam Museum of Art in Gwangyang (which is on view virtually and in-person through June 30), the series is paired with another project dealing with the impacts of solar wind on the earth. “The Future Herbarium’s flowers are thus subjected to an imaginary catastrophe, which would have produced mutations but also to these solar winds,” the artist says.
      In addition to the two exhibitions in Hong Kong and Gwangyang, Grasso’s work will be on view at Aranya Art Center in Qinhuangdao, China, through May 16, at Artspace in Sydney from April 28 to July 11, and at Musée de l’Armée in Paris from May 7, 2021, to January 30, 2022. Explore more of his multi-disciplinary practice on Instagram. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

      “Future Herbarium,” distemper on wood, 34 x 24 x 4.5 centimeters. Photo by Claire Dorn, courtesy of Perrotin
      “Future Herbarium,” oil on wood, 33.6 x 24 x 4.8 centimeters. Photo by Claire Dorn, courtesy of Perrotin
      “Future Herbarium,” distemper on wood, 34 x 24 x 4.5 centimeters. Photo by Claire Dorn, courtesy of Perrotin
      “Future Herbarium,” distemper on wood, 34 x 24 x 4.5 centimeters. Courtesy of Perrotin
      “Future Herbarium” (2020), white bronze, 135 x 20 x 20 centimeters. Photo by Ringo Cheung, courtesy of Perrotin
      “Future Herbarium” (2020), white bronze, 135 x 20 x 20 centimeters. Photo by Claire Dorn, courtesy of Courtesy Perrotin

      #bronze
      #flowers
      #oil painting
      #painting
      #sculptures

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      Figures Experience Constraint and Confinement in Bronze Sculptures by Khaled DAWWA

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      Art

      #bronze
      #clay
      #sculpture

      April 12, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Sans titre” (2020), bronze, 35 x 14 x 13 centimeters. All images © Khaled DAWWA, shared with permission
      Whether folded into a box, bound by cords, or fragmented and stacked, the nondescript figures that Paris-based artist Khaled DAWWA sculpts experience some form of confinement. Their bodies are contorted into cages or squeezed into each other’s arms, and each looks down or away, a position that makes them appear to lack the power and agency to be free. Cast in dense blocks, the introspective sculptures reflect the artist’s preference for terracotta and bronze. “All that we received from the old history is by these two materials,” he says.
      Most of the pieces shown here are part of the Compressed series, which were born out of the artist’s own experiences. He tells Colossal:
      This project was inspired by my having lived in different places during a short period: detention and compulsory military service in Damascus for four months, then Lebanon for one year and finally arriving to France. Upon arrival in France, at first, I felt liberated from it all. Then I realized that the French live their lives in a complex system that turns them into “compressed people” and that we had this in common. This is the first series in which I look at people beyond Syria.
      If you’re in Paris, you can see Khaled DAWWA’s artwork at numerous spots around the city: his piece titled “Les Passants” will be installed in a public spot in Clamart in May 2021, and he’s also participating in Beautify Paris in June of this year. Currently, he is part of Répare, Reprise at the International City of Arts, a group show that’s up through July 10, and is in the process of making a film about the artworks on display. Explore more of the artist’s compacted sculptures on Instagram.

      “Compressé” (2016), bronze, 13 x 11 x 8 centimeters
      “Liberté” (2019), terracotta, 35 x 16 x 13 centimeters
      “Siége” (2019), bronze, 35 x 14 x 13 centimeters
      Left: “Les mille et une nuit” (2016), terracotta and wood, 20 x 30 centimeters. Right: “Et nous resterons amis pour toujours …,” bronze, 110 x 59 x 36 centimeters
      “Une cellule individuelle” (2016), terracotta and wood, 15 x 15 x 5 centimeters

      #bronze
      #clay
      #sculpture

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    • 163 Shares169 Views

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      Poetic Sculptures by Valérie Hadida Cast Composed Women with Coiffed Hair in Bronze

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      Art

      #body
      #bronze
      #hair
      #sculpture

      March 2, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Seaside,” bronze, 42 x 23 x 15 centimeters. All images © Valérie Hadida, courtesy of Galry, shared with permission
      For Valérie Hadida, the deep, protective partnerships fostered between women provide the foundation for her practice. The French artist casts bronze sculptures that are poetic and nuanced, depicting female figures wearing contemplative and composed expressions. “Coming from a large family where women reign supreme and play a key role, they have established a bond of serenity, trust, and complicity with me,” she tells Colossal. “The heroines of my works are always women because I am deeply convinced that it is they who will change and save the world.”
      Hadida begins with a sketch before building the figures that eventually are covered with green patina. In recent years, the size of the sculptures has grown from smaller works into those that stand more than a meter high, an expansion that brings the scale of the works closer to a human body. “I prefer to work on the curves, the flesh more than the muscles. These seem to me disabling because they are hard and violent,” she says. Most of the sculptures depict teenage years or middle age, a time that’s marked with transition and change.
      Generally seated, the figures’ poses and gestures appear temporary as if the woman has just shifted or is precariously settled on a stone. Although the bodies are still, their curls often swell upward to imply movement and sometimes are embedded with smaller silhouettes like in “Nocturna.” Their locks “typify each woman in her origins, in her age… The hair moves like the branches of a tree,” the artist says, noting that the plumed strands both accentuate and stabilize the figures’ supple curves, elongated fingers, and overall shape. “These women are marked by life. I do not represent perfect or idealized figures. These silhouettes are on the contrary very marked, very cut out. But their imperfections highlight their femininity,” she says.
      Hadida is represented by Galry in Paris, and you can find a larger collection of her elegantly sculpted works on Artsy.

      “La grande zénitude” (2021), bronze, 39 2/5 × 31 1/2 × 13 4/5 inches
      Detail of “Nocturna” (2017), bronze, 25 1/5 × 17 7/10 × 7 9/10 inches
      Left: “La rêveuse” (2018), bronze, 32 7/10 × 8 3/10 × 10 1/5 inches. Right: “Nouvel Amour” (2020), bronze, 29 1/2 × 11 4/5 × 11 4/5 inches
      Detail of “Trio de femmes” (2018), bronze, 21 3/10 × 15 × 7 9/10 inches
      “Trio de femmes” (2018), bronze, 21 3/10 × 15 × 7 9/10 inches
      “Nocturna” (2017), bronze, 25 1/5 × 17 7/10 × 7 9/10 inches
      Detail of “Nouvel Amour” (2018), bronze, 75 x 30 x 30 centimeters
      Detail of “Nouvel Amour” (2018), bronze, 75 x 30 x 30 centimeters

      #body
      #bronze
      #hair
      #sculpture

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    • 125 Shares99 Views

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      Bronze Figures Explore Movement in Sculptures by Coderch & Malavia

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      Art
      Dance

      #body
      #bronze
      #sculpture

      January 5, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Clio’s Dream” (2020), bronze and blue patina. All images © Coderch & Malavia, shared with permission
      At the center of Coderch & Malavia’s artistic practice is the beauty of the human figure and its various expressions. The Valencia-based duo works collaboratively to cast bronze sculptures that explore the nuances of the body through dance-like movements and distinct gestures. Natural details like golden branches and feathered wings embellish many of the heavily patinaed works, Coderch & Malavia share, to evoke themes from classic literature, theater, photography, cinema, and ballet. “The human being is three-dimensional,” they say. “Probably that is the main reason why we are attracted to sculpture. It is the closest artistic representation of ourselves.”
      After a discussion on intentions for a new project, the pair generally works with a live model to help the sculpture take shape. “The complicated part is organizing and sharing the physical creation of the work itself because you need double discipline,” they say. “You must learn to trust your partner and be able to share your ideas and your work with him, and, above all, you must put your ego aside in order to stay equal to commit to the final result.”
      Get a glimpse into Coderch & Malavia’s process on their site and Instagram, where you can also follow their upcoming exhibitions.

      Detail of “Clio’s Dream” (2020), bronze and blue patina
      Detail of “Haiku” (2019), bronze
      Detail of “Haiku” (2019), bronze
      “Moonlight Shadow” (2019), bronze, 80 centimeters
      “Odette” (2018), bronze, 68 centimeters
      Detail of “Moonlight Shadow” (2019), bronze, 80 centimeters
      Detail of “Odette” (2018), bronze, 68 centimeters
      “Haiku” (2019), bronze

      #body
      #bronze
      #sculpture

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