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      Interview: Sara Hagale Discusses the Therapeutic Nature of Her Practice and Why She Doesn’t Think About Authenticity

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      Art
      Colossal
      Illustration

      #drawing
      #emotions
      #interview

      August 31, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Walkerings.” All images © Sara Hagale, shared with permission
      Considering their undeniable relatability, it’s no surprise that Sara Hagale’s witty, whimsical, and at times anxious drawings have amassed an incredible following in recent years, a topic she discusses in a new interview supported by Colossal Members. Her body of work is broad and idiosyncratic, spanning fanciful bouquets of leggy flowers to smudged self-portraits to quirky characters struggling through life, and it offers an array of emotional and aesthetic nuances that are unique to the artist.
      I don’t have to feel goofy all the time in order to still be me. And I’m allowed to draw something that feels right to me in that moment even if it doesn’t match up perfectly with the other work I produce.
      In a conversation with Colossal managing editor Grace Ebert, Hagale discusses using her practice to process her emotions in real-time, the impossibility of authenticity, and why she prefers to work with limitations.

      #drawing
      #emotions
      #interview

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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      Interview: The Sketchbook Project Needs Help After Its Brooklyn Collection Grows to 55,000 Globally Submitted Books

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      Art
      Colossal

      #interview
      #sketchbook project

      July 30, 2021
      Christopher Jobson

      Fifteen years ago, Steven Peterman launched The Sketchbook Project, an ongoing initiative he discusses in a new interview with Colossal editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson. The project, which gathers sketchbooks filled with artwork and stories from people around the globe, has since grown into the Brooklyn Art Library, and today, that collection boasts approximately 55,000 submissions.
      The physical collection is an incredible creative resource. There is so much artwork from varying skill levels and artists of all ages, but there are also stories, secrets, hopes, and fears that create a magical exchange between the participant who created the book and the reader who is viewing it in person.
      In the conversation supported by Colossal Members, Peterman talks about the challenges of maintaining the collection and its robust community during the COVID-19 pandemic and what’s on the horizon for the project as it changes its funding model.

      #interview
      #sketchbook project

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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      Take a Swing Around ‘Par Excellence Redux,’ a Mini Golf Course of Playable Artworks at Elmhurst Art Museum

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      Art
      Colossal

      #Chicago
      #games
      #golf

      July 22, 2021
      Colossal

      All images courtesy of the Elmhurst Art Museum, shared with permission
      Now open at the Elmhurst Art Museum is Par Excellence Redux, a miniature golf course featuring a widely varied collection of playable artworks. Curated by Colossal’s founder and editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson as part of an open call, the two-part course pays homage to the wildly popular Par Excellence that opened in 1988 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The designs range from a challenging optical illusion to a maze-like castle with the potential for a hole-in-one to Annalee Koehn’s fortune-telling piece first shown 33 years ago in the initial exhibition.
      Chicago sculptor Michael O’Brien conceived of the original Par Excellence, which opened to lines down the block and subsequently sold out daily. It was recognized nationally in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Tribune, among others, and went on tour throughout Illinois before returning to Chicago as a rebranded commercial project called ArtGolf, which was located at 1800 N. Clybourn in Lincoln Park on the site that’s now occupied by Goose Island Brewery. Although artist-designed golf courses are shown at a variety of Midwest museums—you can see versions at the Walker Art Center, The Sheldon, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art—Par Excellence is widely regarded as the first.
      The Front 9, which runs through September 26, features artists Julie Cowan, Current Projects, Andrea Jablonski & Stolatis Inc., Annalee Koehn, Latent Design, Jesse Meredith, Gautam Rao, Robin Schwartzman & Tom Loftus (aka A Couple of Putts), and the museum’s Teen Art Council. Open October 13, 2021, to January 2, 2022, The Back 9  shows work from artists Wesley Baker, KT Duffy, Eve Fineman, Joshua Kirsch, Annalee Koehn, Vincent Lotesto, Joshua Lowe, Jim Merz, David Quednau, and Liam Wilson & Anna Gershon.
      Try your hand at the first nine holes by heading over to Elmhurst’s site to book a tee time, and remember that Colossal Members get 25% off.

      #Chicago
      #games
      #golf

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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      Interview: Arinze Stanley Speaks to the Indelible Impact of Police Brutality and How Extreme Emotion is the Key to Change

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      Art
      Colossal

      #activism
      #drawing
      #emotions
      #hyperrealism
      #portraits

      May 6, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Bullets and Denim #2” (2020), charcoal and graphite on paper, 30 x 26 inches. All images © Arinze Stanley, shared with permission
      For the past few years, Nigerian artist Arinze Stanley (previously) has been at the forefront of hyperrealism with his powerful and sometimes surreal portraits that are arresting in size and emotion, which he discusses in a new interview supported by Colossal Members. His charcoal-and-graphite works are rendered in stunning detail and bear broader political messages, particularly in relation to state-sanctioned violence and his own experiences suffering from police and military brutality.
      What people don’t recognize about Bullets and Denim is that the artwork shows emotion on all parts, but if you have a gunshot to your head, you should be dead, right? Well, these people in the photo are not dead. That encapsulates the concept of endurance in general. Even as we try to stitch the patches of our reality, I want people to see that, that we’ve had it to the head. Enough is enough. It’s a visual representation of enough is enough because from here onwards is death.
      Colossal managing editor Grace Ebert joined Stanley for a conversation in March 2021 about how he brings his subjects to points of extreme frustration, the ways his drawings resonate with different audiences around the globe, and how he envisions his artworks as catalysts for meaningful change.

      “The Machine Man 1” (2019), pencil on paper

      #activism
      #drawing
      #emotions
      #hyperrealism
      #portraits

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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      Interview: A Conversation with Curator Tam Gryn Unpacks the Innovative Mix of Art and Retail Behind SHOWFIELDS

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      Art
      Colossal

      April 26, 2021
      Christopher Jobson

      Perrier x Murakami collaboration at SHOWFIELDS NYC. All images © SHOWFIELDS, shared with permission
      We recently sat down with SHOWFIELDS head curator Tam Gryn for a conversation about the unique blend of shopping, art, brand activations, and events that drive the innovative retail concept. With locations in New York City and Miami, the relatively new space already has generated fruitful collaborations between an impressive array of artists, companies, and organizations, including Perrier x Murakami, Tax Collection, Brooke DiDonato, Kenny Sharf, Ekaterina Popova, Filthy Luker, and the Whitney and Brooklyn museums.
      Often working in response to cultural shifts and consumer demands, Gryn’s curatorial decisions are geared toward sustainability and collective movement. She explains:
      As a curator, I try to find patterns in generational truths. What I see since last year is that our whole generation is screaming for healing at the top of their lungs: healing from this pandemic, healing medically, healing holistically with all kinds of contemporary spiritual practices, healing as a society. Therefore, I am showcasing artists who can interpret this phenomenon, and we are partnering with small businesses who are giving consumers what they are asking for.
      In this interview, Colossal editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson spoke with Gryn about the efficacy of structuring collaborations based on shared missions, the humor and play that permeate both SHOWFIELDS locations, and what we can collectively gain from blurring the boundaries of art and branding.

      Filthy Luker tentacles popping out of the SHOWFIELDS Miami facade

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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      Interview: Jeroen Smeets Shares the Story Behind The Jaunt, the Collaborative Travel Project Sending Artists Around the World

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      Art
      Colossal

      March 10, 2021
      Christopher Jobson

      Photo by Andrea Wan during her trip to Nepal. All images shared with permission
      In a new interview supported by Colossal Members, Jeroen Smeets dives into the story behind The Jaunt, a travel project that he founded in 2013. Since then, the project has sent more than 70 artists to new destinations around the globe—locations are wide-ranging, spanning from Helsinki to Los Angeles to Caye Caulker, Belize—with the goal of producing a single, hand-pulled screenprint.
      We try not to guide or give too much structure for their trip. And this is what I think makes this project unique. Usually, artists travel to set up exhibitions, work on a specific project, paint murals, but rarely are they going to a place with the sole purpose of finding new inspiration.
      In this conversation with Colossal editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson, Smeets recounts The Jaunt’s first-ever collaboration, some of the surprising experiences to come out of the artists’ excursions, and what’s next for the ongoing project.

      The Jaunt print by Collin van der Sluijs

      Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!

       
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      Interview: Artist Roberto Benavidez Shares His Fascination with Paper Sculpture and the Stories Behind His Fantastical Piñatas

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       From the Hieronymus Bosch Piñatas series. All images © Roberto Benavidez, shared with permission Harboring an ongoing fascination with the piñata, artist Roberto Benavidez (previously) centers his practice on translation as he crafts fantastical creatures and scenes from Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings, medieval manuscripts, and landscape photographs. When it comes to the form, that’s the […] More

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      Interview: Artist Lola Dupré Discusses Change, Technology, and the Financial Pressures of Creative Work

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       “Keith,” 16.5 x 11.5 inches. All images © Lola Dupré, shared with permission Artist Lola Dupré (previously) is devoted to the tangible, a dedication that anchors her practice of physically cutting and pasting paper and photographs into surreal collages. I think people become so fixated on a rigid belief that they refuse to discuss […] More