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      Vines and Flowers Intertwine with an Imposing Skeleton in an Elegant Graphite Drawing by Guno Park

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      Art

      #drawing
      #graphite
      #momento mori
      #plants
      #skeleton

      August 6, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Detail of “Nature of Things,”  graphite/pencil on paper, 85 x 51.5 inches. All images © Guno Park, shared with permission
      Brooklyn-based artist Guno Park evokes the tradition of memento mori with an exquisite new drawing highlighting the precarious line between life and death. Titled “Nature of Things,” the meticulously crosshatched piece rendered in graphite stands at a striking 85 inches, portraying the oversized human figure with botanicals winding around its spinal column and through its chest. “Putting the skeleton together with vine, leaves, and flowers represents for me the power of nature and its inevitability of continuum. I find comfort in nature,” the artist says.
      Park shares that although skulls and bones are common subject matter, he relegated most to his sketchbook until magnifying the concept a few months into the pandemic. “This drawing has been a journey —as many drawings are—that started a little more than a year ago…I think our whole world was reminded of how close death can be, and I had a constant reminder of it on the news and media,” he says.
      In addition to his studio practice, Park teaches drawing at The New York Academy of Art, ArtCenter, and New York Film Academy, and you can see more of his figurative drawings on Instagram.

      #drawing
      #graphite
      #momento mori
      #plants
      #skeleton

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      Silky Flowers Spring from CJ Hendry’s Enormous Hyperrealistic Drawings in Colored Pencil

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      Art
      Illustration

      #colored pencil
      #drawing
      #flowers
      #hyperrealism

      July 26, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Red Poppy,” 45 x 45 inches. All images © CJ Hendry, shared with permission
      Previously drawing giant strokes of oil paint and fruits, fish, and other edibles with remarkable depth and detail, Australian artist CJ Hendry shifts her focus to the soft, silky petals of peonies, roses, and tulips. She uses colored pencils to render individual florals and small bunches at an immense scale, magnifying their thin layers and sticky inner organs. The hyperrealistic drawings enhance the dimension and delicacy of each flower as they appear to blossom from the paper with exquisite detail.
      Hendry lives in Brooklyn and is working on similar botanical pieces for an upcoming exhibition in a dilapidated church in Mile End. Until that London show, follow her works and keep an eye out for limited-edition releases on her Instagram.

      “Peony Peeping,” 65 x 65 inches
      Detail of “Red Poppy,” 45 x 45 inches
      “Pink Fluffy Peony,” 45 x 45 inches
      Detail of “Pink Fluffy Peony,” 45 x 45 inches
      Detail of “Light Peach Rose,” 41 x 41 inches
      “Light Peach Rose,” 41 x 41 inches
      “White Peeping Peony,” 45 x 45 inches
      Detail of “White Poking Peony,” 41 x 41 inches

      #colored pencil
      #drawing
      #flowers
      #hyperrealism

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      A Bookmark Illustrated by Van Gogh Has Been Discovered After 135 Years

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      Art
      History

      #art history
      #drawing

      June 29, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Detail of “Strip with three sketches” of a Woman Walking, Viewed from the Back, a Sitting Man (en face) and a Sitting Woman (en profil), before June 1883, graphite on paper, 28 x 5 centimeters. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, purchased with support from the Bank Giro Loterij
      In 2021, it’s rare to stumble upon a work by Vincent van Gogh that hasn’t been previously identified, but researchers recently uncovered a few early drawings slipped inside one of the Dutch artist’s books. Now on view as part of Here to Stay at the Van Gogh Museum, the newly discovered bookmark has been hidden for about 135 years and dates back to autumn 1881, when the artist was in his late 20s and living in his parents’ village of Etten.
      Depicting three single figures in a vertical line, the pencil sketches were found inside the artist’s copy of Histoire d’un Paysan, an illustrated novel by Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian that details the French Revolution from the perspective of a peasant in Alsace. Van Gogh mailed the book, which he first inscribed with his name, to his friend and fellow artist Anthon van Rappard in 1883, saying “I do think you’ll find the Erckmann-Chatrian beautiful.”
      Van Rappard sat for a drawn portrait with van Gogh not long after receiving the novel, which was held by the family of van Rappard’s wife until the Van Gogh Museum purchased it in 2019. Despite their friendship, the pair had a falling out in 1885 after van Rappard criticized the lithograph “The Potato Eaters” (1885).
      The discovery will be on view alongside artifacts and other artworks acquired by the Amsterdam museum in the last decade through September 12. (via Artnet)

      “Strip with three sketches” of a Woman Walking, Viewed from the Back, a Sitting Man (en face) and a Sitting Woman (en profil), before June 1883, graphite on paper, 28 x 5 centimeters. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, purchased with support from the Bank Giro Loterij
      Detail of “Strip with three sketches” of a Woman Walking, Viewed from the Back, a Sitting Man (en face) and a Sitting Woman (en profil), before June 1883, graphite on paper, 28 x 5 centimeters. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, purchased with support from the Bank Giro Loterij

      #art history
      #drawing

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      Infinite Architectural Metropolises Balance Order and Chaos in Benjamin Sack’s Drawings

      by

      
      Art

      #architecture
      #drawing
      #labyrinth
      #mazes
      #surreal

      June 23, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Boxed In.” All images © Benjamin Sack, shared with permission
      In Benjamin Sack’s imagined environments, it’s not uncommon to find angular mazes resembling dystopian structures, buildings packed so closely together it’s difficult to distinguish one from the next, and labyrinthine walkways that spiral like fractals. Working in pen and ink, the artist (previously) draws intricate black-and-white metropolises that waver between organization and chaos: He plays with geometry, angles, and dimension to render perplexing maps teeming with both traditional architecture and surreal additions, like treble clefs, astral shapes, and dizzying line- and dot-work.
      While many of Sack’s works meld the past, present, and future into a single display, his recent feet-wide maze titled “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)” is directly drawn from this last year.  “This piece was a massive, Daedalian undertaking that was started at the outset of the initial lockdowns back in March 2020 and finished upon my receiving the first dose of the vaccine in April,” the artist tells Colossal. “A large labyrinth emblematic of the epoch we persevered.”
      Watch the timelapse video below and head to Instagram for a glimpse into Sack’s process, and pick up a print in his shop.

      “Tokyo, Japan”
      “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)”
      Detail of “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)”
      “Manhattanesque”
      Detail of “Leitmotif”
      “Endurance”
      “Acoustaglyph”
      “A Sensitive Chaos”
      “Leitmotif”
      

      #architecture
      #drawing
      #labyrinth
      #mazes
      #surreal

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

      by

      
      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

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      Graphite Portraits Distort and Intertwine Subjects to Visualize Metaphors of the Body

      by

      
      Art
      Illustration

      #anatomy
      #drawing
      #graphite
      #portraits
      #surreal

      April 12, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Miles Johnston, shared with permission
      Malmö, Sweden-based artist Miles Johnston portrays subjects whose figures are in states of flux, whether through fragmented bodies, multiplied faces, or limbs contorted into impossible positions. Often depicting Johnston (previously) or his partner, the graphite portraits distort typical anatomy in a way that balances the familiar with the unknown and visualizes the thoughts and emotions otherwise hidden inside the mind.
      Whether set against a trippy backdrop or quiet beach, each piece portrays the experience of the body “through a kind of internal metaphorical language,” the artist says. He explains further:
      We don’t directly experience the actual biochemical facts of what is happening in our bodies, hormones secreting, weird little proteins and neurons doing whatever it is they do. Instead, we have a whole language of expressions like stomach tied up in knots, feeling empty, torn in two, burning with anger, etc… I’m aiming for this sort of naive direct representation of what things feel like instead of a literal representation of how they look from the outside.
      Keep an eye on Johnston’s site and Instagram for news on upcoming print releases and his latest works.

      #anatomy
      #drawing
      #graphite
      #portraits
      #surreal

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      Around the Block: David Zinn’s Quirky Chalk Cartoons Spring to Life in a New Short Film

      by

      
      Animation
      Art
      Illustration

      #chalk
      #drawing
      #public art
      #short film
      #street art
      #video

      January 15, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      
      If you’ve walked the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the last few decades, you’ve probably spotted the wide-eyed monsters and mischievous dragons of David Zinn (previously). Since 1987, the artist has been drawing chalk-and-charcoal creatures in site-specific works that wash away with the rain. Drain pipes become robotic dogs, a pillar morphs into a giant pencil, and a green monster pops out of a brick walkway.
      A new short film directed by Jonnie Lewis dives into Zinn’s practice by animating his signature cartoon cast that greets the artist as he walks around the city. Watch “Around the Block” on Lewis’s Vimeo, and check out more of Zinn’s eccentric creatures on Instagram.  (via Laughing Squid)

      #chalk
      #drawing
      #public art
      #short film
      #street art
      #video

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      More Than 90 Artists Create Original Works on Vintage Envelopes for ‘Couriers of Hope’

      by

      
      Art
      Illustration

      #animals
      #drawing
      #envelopes
      #found objects
      #mail art
      #watercolor

      January 14, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      By Andrew Hem
      What brings you hope? That’s the central question behind a new group exhibition presented by Port City Creative Guild. Couriers of Hope boasts more than 120 original pieces from more than 90 artists—the list includes Rosanne Kang Jovanovski, Andrew Hem (previously), Sean Chao (previously), and Yoskay Yamamoto—all rendered on vintage envelopes. Prompted by the mail art movement of the 1960s, the exhibition features an eclectic array of watercolor, pencil, and mixed-media illustrations that transform the miniature canvases into the artists’ vision for the future, whether through relaxed otters, peaches, or vivid portraits. Many of the works prominently display original postmarks and stamps and serve as a reminder that communication doesn’t have to be digital.
      Students from Long Beach Unified School District have the opportunity to acquire one of the envelopes by trading their own response to the artists’ same prompt, with the guild providing art supplies for participants to ensure that everyone has access to the initiative. The show was curated collectively by a Long Beach Museum of Art, Creative Arts Coalition to Transform Urban Space, Flatline, Inspired LBC, The Icehouse x Ink and Drink Long Beach, Arts Council Long Beach, Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum, Compound LBC, and the Creative Class Collective.
      Couriers of Hope will be on display in the windows of the Psychic Temple of the Holy Kiss in downtown Long Beach and on the guild’s site for virtual viewing from January 19 to February 28, 2021.

      By Sean Chao
      By Megan Boterenbrood
      By Adam Harrison
      By Bodeck Luna
      By Christine Yoon
      By Hilary Norcliffe
      By Judy Kepes
      Left: By Jonathan Martinez. Right: By Kelly Yamagishi
      By Narsiso Martinez
      By Rosanne Kang Jovanovski
      By Sean Chao

      #animals
      #drawing
      #envelopes
      #found objects
      #mail art
      #watercolor

      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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