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Landscape painting is “re-envisioned through a hallucinatory, technicolor lens.”
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Pastoral Landscapes Brim with Patterns in Luminous Paintings by David Brian Smith appeared first on Colossal. More
“And nature smiled” (2025), oil on herringbone linen, 66 7/8 x 55 1/8 inches. All photos by Ben Deakin. Images courtesy of the artist and Ross + Kramer Gallery, shared with permission
Pastoral Landscapes Brim with Patterns in Luminous Paintings by David Brian Smith
November 19, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Easter egg-like clouds, glowing sunrise gradients, and myriad vibrant patterns are just a few of the elements comprising David Brian Smith’s otherworldly landscapes.
Smith grew up in rural Shropshire, England, and his ancestral ties to the region’s agricultural traditions became a major influence on his work after he relocated to London. His works evoke British landscape painting of the likes of the Norwich School of painters, a group of self-taught, working-class artists who self-organized an art society in the early 19th century.
“All around the Wrekin” (2025), oil on linen, 78 3/4 x 70 7/8 inches
Smith departs from historically more academic styles of oil painting to create works “re-envisioned through a hallucinatory, technicolor lens,” says Ross + Kramer Gallery, which presents the artist’s solo exhibition, All around the Wrekin. In his starkly contrasted rolling hills, farm buildings, and bulbous trees, Smith also evokes the bucolic yet faintly uncanny paintings of American Regionalist artist Grant Wood (1891-1942).
“Rooted in the English pastoral tradition yet boldly contemporary in vision, Smith’s paintings explore ideas of place, belonging, and time through radiant color, intricate brushwork, and layered symbolism,” the gallery says. The title of the show references the name of a hill in Shropshire called the Wrekin, distinctive for its conical shape and a popular place to take walks.
Within the sky, fields, rivers, and forests, hundreds of little hatch marks, flowers, starbursts, and other thematic motifs dance across the surface. He also often incorporates gold and silver leaf to add an even further ethereality to the large-scale, luminous canvases, tapping into the power of color and light to evoke nostalgia and a kind of psychedelic utopianism.
All around the Wrekin continues through November 22 in San Francisco. Smith’s work is also on view as part of Inner and Outer Worlds, an exhibition of international contemporary painting that runs through April 12 at the Ju Ming Museum in Taiwan. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
Detail of “All around the Wrekin”
“Jackfield” (2025), oil and gold leaf on herringbone linen, 66 7/8 x 55 1/8 inches
Detail of “Jackfield”
“A Dragons Eye” (2025), oil and gold leaf on herringbone linen, 82 5/8 x 70 7/8 inches
Detail of “A Dragons Eye”
“A place of my heart” (2025), oil on linen, 78 3/4 x 70 7/8 inches
Detail of “All around the Wrekin”
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“Echoverse.” All images courtesy of Tomislav Topić, shared with permission
Tomislav Topić Meticulously Layers Hundreds of Panels into Prismatic Mesh Installations
November 18, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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From dozens of painted mesh fabric panels, Tomislav Topić’s undulating, site-specific installations transform airy spaces into immersive experiences. Superimposed in layers that are meticulously suspended from the ceiling or between outdoor structures, the panels interact with sunlight and one another to create vibrant gradients.
One of Topić’s most recent interventions, Echoverse, consists of 57 different colors on 451 panels, stretching nearly 100 feet long and about 25 feet wide. It’s currently installed in a spacious former chapel home to Les 3 CHA, an art center in Châteaugiron, France, where the work flutters wave-like through the open space.
Detail of “Echoverse”
Additional recent pieces include “Nexus Lucis,” which centered above the altar of a large church in Gisors, France, earlier this year. And new this fall, an outdoor installation titled “Afterburn” floats above Intendencia Street in downtown Pensacola, Florida.
Geometry, hue, and light interact to create prismatic interactions. “Every color, every layer, every viewpoint responds to another—like lines of a poem extending one another, or like sound waves traveling through the space and refracting in the air,” Topić says in a statement. Hovering independently yet arranged with precision, the perceived effect evolves as one walks around the work. From one vantage point, the installation may appear more opaque, but from another, its faceted and translucent nature is revealed.
Topić carefully considers the nature of spaces, how we interact within them, and how shifting light throughout the day changes how they feel. “It is important to me to create a work that introduces a deliberate contrast, yet still merges with the space,” he says. “I love this symbiosis; for me, it is essential—especially in a place that carries more than 800 years of history.”
Echoverse continues through December 14. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
“Afterburn”
Detail of “Afterburn”
“Echoverse”
“Nexus Lucis”
“Nexus Lucis”
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All images © Kenny Harris, shared with permission
Experimenting with Color and Reflection, Kenny Harris Brews Beautiful Still Lifes
August 8, 2025
ArtDesignFood
Kate Mothes
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In 1933, Alfonso Bialetti and his son Renato began to market an aluminum contraption for brewing coffee that would make an indelible mark on Italian culinary culture and beyond. Called a moka pot after the Yemeni city of Mokha, the appliance is still manufactured today by the coffee equipment company Bialetti under the name Moka Express, providing a steam-powered, filterless way to make a rich brew on the stovetop.
For Venice, California-based artist Kenny Harris, the metallic, faceted surface of the iconic maker inspires an ongoing series of lovely still-life oil paintings. Exploring color and form, the artist focuses on reflections and their effects. Delicate gradients and patterns are mirrored across the pot’s surface, sometimes blurring the boundary between the object and its surroundings.
“I find delight in searching for harmonies, lost edges, and texture variation,” the artist says. “In the end, these are color experimentations in the tradition of Joseph Albers or Albert Moore: reiteration of the same forms with different color combinations. Also, I love coffee.”
A solo show of Harris’s work titled Passage opens on September 6 at Galerie Mokum in Amsterdam, and he’s currently working toward another show in early 2026 at Billis Williams Gallery in Los Angeles. Explore more work on the artist’s website and Instagram.
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All images courtesy of Zim&Zou, shared with permission
Zim&Zou’s ’80s-Inspired Paper Cassettes and Boombox Radiate with Color
July 28, 2025
ArtCraftDesign
Kate Mothes
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From layered pieces of paper, Zim&Zou recently created a series of patterned cassette tapes and a vibrant portable stereo. Known for their elaborate, large-scale installations, the artists scaled down in size—but not color—for this playful throwback.
Zim&Zou have recently collaborated with the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris to design an interactive family play area, and a workshop invites visitors to compose a water lily out of paper in reference to Claude Monet’s expansive Water Lilies paintings, which feature in the museum’s collection. See more on Zim&Zou’s website, Behance, and Instagram.
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“Byzantine.” Photos by Shannon Toft. All images courtesy of Frances Priest, shared with permission
Vibrant Patterns in Frances Priest’s Ceramics Emanate Historical and International Influences
July 3, 2025
ArtCraft
Kate Mothes
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In vibrant effusions of color, Frances Priest creates ceramic vessels, tiles, and sculptural forms that explore the possibilities of pattern. The Edinburgh-based artist’s interest in decorative motifs stems from a book she received as a child, The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, originally published in 1856.
Jones compiled elaborate documentation of decorative motifs around Europe, the Middle East, and other regions represented in British museum collections of the time. An international focus has long inspired Priest, who incorporates a wide range of visual languages into her pieces.
Jar with a chevron pattern
Priest (previously) emphasizes geometry and color, merging ideas of precision with organic movement—some of the elements appear to be floating away or overlapping playfully with others rather than remaining in perfect alignment. She also continues the patterns across the bottoms of the pieces, emphasizing an all-around completeness.
Recent works include a series of cylindrical vessels with lids influenced by Chinese ginger jars. The artist recently completed a large-scale tile commission for Theatre Clwyd in North Wales titled “Stellar,” and a series of encaustic floral tiles dotted the floor of a garden at London’s 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
If you’re in Edinburgh, see Priest’s work at &Gallery in the forthcoming group exhibition Fragments, which runs from July 5 to 30. Find more on the artist’s Instagram and website, where some of the pieces shown here are available for purchase in her shop.
Jars with (L-R) triangle, chevron, and bow patterns
Detail of the triangle-patterned jar
“Wait”
Installation view of “Byzantine”
Detail of “Byzantine”
“Pace”
Jar with a bow pattern
Detail of “Byzantine”
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“H.A.P.P.Y.” All images courtesy of Liz West and Mercer Art Gallery, shared with permission
Get ‘H.A.P.P.Y’ with Liz West’s Immersive Installation Made of More Than 700 Colorful Discs
April 24, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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Spanning nearly the entire floor of the main space of Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, Liz West’s expansive new installation invites viewers to revel in color and brightness. The artist has reimagined the historic early-19th-century spa promenade room as a vibrant, sensory immersion.
West’s solo exhibition, H.A.P.P.Y, takes inspiration from a common malady known as seasonal affective disorder, or S.A.D., which is a form of depression that often manifests in the fall or winter when the days are shorter and the temperatures drop. It typically recedes in the summer and spring.
Continuing her interest in the effects of light, reflections, and chromatic relationships (previously), the artist created “Our Colour Reflection,” the centerpiece of H.A.P.P.Y, to highlight the emotional, psychological, and physical power of vibrancy and hue.
Composed of 765 multi-colored discs layered in low relief across the floor, the piece transforms the environment into a luminous experience that interacts with natural and artificial light and evolves throughout the day.
H.A.P.P.Y also includes a selection of paintings, drawings, and models for “Our Colour Reflection,” and the exhibition continues through October 5. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
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“Sun Study (Midnight)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission
Reflections and Human Connections Resonate in Marina Kappos’ Optical Paintings
January 30, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
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In physics, quantum entanglement describes how particles being generated, interacting, or in proximity to one another cannot have independent quantum states. Albert Einstein referred to this phenomenon as “spooky action at a distance.” In short, once particles have interacted, they remain connected, even if they are millions of light years apart.
For artist Marina Kappos, entanglement inspires an interest in frequency, resonance, and connection through painting. “In a peculiar way, I can relate to distant particles affecting one another because I have an identical twin sister,” she tells Colossal. “I have grown up with a mirrored reflection of myself, but one that is also independent and leading a different life than me. This unique perspective has created a lifelong bond of interconnectedness between my sister and me.”
“188” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 inches
Kappos describes her paintings, like her life, as a double or a mirror that reflects in myriad ways. She invokes a kind of “buzzing frequency and optical motion” that creates the impression that solid, distinct objects—like our bodies—are fluid or malleable.
“We are inextricably linked to one another and our surroundings,” the artist says. “Where does the body end and the universe begin? Vibration is a clue that it is closely related. These paintings, combined with my own life experience, have highlighted my evolving awareness of the nature of reality.”
Kappos applies acrylic paint in semi-transparent layers of color, which overlap to create a resonating or vibrating visual quality. She is interested in portraying human connections, especially women, often emphasizing profiles or hands because they hint at the body but may not be the first detail one notices when seeing reverberating, optical color effects. Many works have light and dark counterparts, like “Sister 1” and “Sister 2.”
“Like echoes, the repeated motifs almost have a Doppler effect, where there is an increase or decrease in frequency of light depending on where you stand,” Kappos says. “The ethereal, transparent layers of paint eventually become profiles of faces, sometimes melding into landscape, at times appearing out of focus, simply buzzing or humming along.”
“199 (Sister 1)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches
Many of these works were recently on view in her solo shows Ultraviolet Catastrophe at The Pit in Los Angeles and Spooky Action at Shrine in New York City. She currently has a piece in the group exhibition Soft Focus at The Hole’s Los Angeles location.
The artist is currently engaged in a residency in Paris at Résidence artistique Retina, a program established by a medical center in the heart of the city to improve the experience for hospital patients, visitors, and staff. Find more on Kappos’s website and Instagram.
“199 (Sister 2)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches
“Sun Study (Aurora)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches
“Vibrating Woman” (2020), acrylic on canvas, 72 x 120 inches
“179” (2024), acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 inches
“Ultraviolet Study (Tangle)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches
“Spooky Action Study (Skull)” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches
“Ultraviolet Study (Night Rider” (2024), acrylic on wood panel, 16 x 16 inches
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Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, “Toiiletpaper.” Image courtesy of ‘Toiletpaper.’
A Provocative Photography Exhibition Invites You to Experience ‘Chromotherapia’
January 28, 2025
ArtBooksPhotography
Kate Mothes
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In the world of photography, the color image has long held an inferior reputation to black-and-white, which connoisseurs historically deemed to be more dignified. Today, vibrant images are embraced in a wide range of fields, from fine art and fashion to advertising and journalism.
Championing the potential of the medium, artist Maurizio Cattelan and French Academy in Rome—Villa Medici director Sam Stourdzé curated Chromotherapia: The Feel-Good Color Photography.
Martin Parr, “Common Sense.” Image © Magnum Photos
Color therapy, though deemed a pseudoscience, has its roots in color theory, which focuses on interactions between hues and how they affect our moods and emotions.
Cattelan and Stourdzé emphasize ebullient hyperreality, humor, and the absurd through works like Juno Calypso’s “Chicken Dogs,” in which an anonymous figure lies face-down next to a can of hot dogs, or Walter Candoha’s expressive pets. And in “Toiletpaper,” by Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, who co-founded a magazine of the same name in 2010, a man sits on a tan couch, wearing a matching suit, covered in spaghetti.
In total, twenty artists explore a range of approaches in the exhibition, from portraits of people and animals to food and uncanny tableaux. “Many have freed themselves from the documentary function of the photographic medium to explore the common roots of the image and the imaginary, flirting with pop art, surrealism, bling, kitsch, and the baroque,” says a statement.
Chromotherapia opens February 28 and continues through June 9 in Rome, and an accompanying catalogue published by Damiani is slated for release in March in the U.K. and May in the U.S. Pre-order your copy in the Colossal Shop.
Cover of ‘Chromotherapia’ (2025). Featured image by Walter Chandoha, “New Jersey” (1962). Image ©️ Walter Chandoha Archive
Juno Calypso, “Chicken Dogs” (2015), archival pigment print. Image © Courtesy the artist and TJ Boulting
William Wegman, “Ski Patrol” (2017). Image courtesy of Galerie George-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
The back cover of Damiani’s catalogue for the exhibition ‘Chromotherapia: The Feel-Good Color Photography,’ featuring a photo by Walter Chandoha
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