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    • 138 Shares179 Views

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      Bees and Irridescent Bubbles Infiltrate Still-Life Traditions in Marc Dennis’ Paintings

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      Detail of “Happily Ever After” (2024), oil on linen, 70.5 x 57.25 inches. All images courtesy of Harper’s, New York, shared with permisison

      Bees and Irridescent Bubbles Infiltrate Still-Life Traditions in Marc Dennis’ Paintings

      February 7, 2025

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      During the Dutch Golden Age, vanitas grew in popularity as a genre of memento mori that emphasized life’s transience. The opulent paintings were steeped in symbolism and foregrounded the futility of ambition and worldly pleasures.

      Marc Dennis draws on this 17th-century tradition as he refashions the still life for a contemporary audience. In a recent oil painting, “Happily Ever After,” hordes of honeybees and hornets descend on a lush bouquet. Kaleidoscopic bubbles float across the five-foot canvas, reflecting the surrounding colors and distorting clear viewers of nearby flowers and fruit.

      “Happily Ever After” (2024), oil on linen, 70.5 x 57.25 inches

      The insects and glossy orbs add another layer of impermanence to the already fleeting imagery, while also reflecting on the tenuous relationship between the organic and human-made. Similar tensions appear in “Allegory of the Readymade,” which suffocates and warps a seemingly vibrant painting with thick layers of plastic wrap. Each of the works clings to a brief moment in time, capturing both life at its prime and serving as a bold reminder of its inevitable end.

      Dennis’ paintings are on view in I’m Happy You’re Here through March 1 at Harper’s Gallery in New York. Find more from the artist on Instagram.

      “Based on a True Story” (2024), oil on linen, 70.75 x 55 inches

      Detail of “Based on a True Story” (2024), oil on linen, 70.75 x 55 inches

      “Superstar” (2024), oil on linen, 70.5 x 55 inches

      “Portrait of the Artist as a Juvenile Delinquent” (2024), oil on linen, 72 x 58 inches

      “Allegory of the Readymade” (2024), oil on linen, 48.75 x 37 inches

      “Giotto’s Fly” (2024), oil on linen, 72.5 x 96 inches

      “Dracula” (2024), oil on linen, 71.5 x 56 in

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    • 163 Shares189 Views

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      Paradise and Precarity Merge in Jessica Taylor Bellamy’s Paintings of Los Angeles Life

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      “American Airlines Passenger Ticket 1 (after Warhol)” (2023), oil on canvas, 32 x 59 inches

      Paradise and Precarity Merge in Jessica Taylor Bellamy’s Paintings of Los Angeles Life

      February 7, 2025

      ArtClimate

      Kate Mothes

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      For Jessica Taylor Bellamy, juxtapositions, transparency, and layers shape a way of working that evokes her family history and notions of home and landscape. Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and an Afro-Cuban Jamaican father, Bellamy was raised in Whittier, just southeast of Los Angeles.

      In glowing oil paintings, she draws from personal mementos like photographs, sales receipts, and newspaper clippings to explore the relationships between utopia and dystopia, humans and nature, image and text, and fantasy and reality.

      “Did She Nail It?” (2025), oil on canvas, 26 x 20 inches

      Bellamy portrays sunsets, landscapes, trees, urban streets, flora, animals, and cloud formations in a kind of dreamy washiness, adding patterns like chainlink fences, gates, and lace curtains suggestive of boundaries. Horizontal landscapes overlaid with American Airlines tickets echo Andy Warhol’s 1960s silkscreen prints of SAS airline tickets merged with floral motifs.

      “Bellamy’s observations are rooted in her experiences of the sprawling urban landscape of Los Angeles—a meeting of nature and civilization at the edge of a precarious paradise, formed by fire, drought, flood, and wind,” says a statement from Anat Ebgi, which represents the artist and opens her new solo exhibition, Temperature Check.

      A few works shown here, like “Did She Nail It?,” appear in the show, which merges landscapes and atmospheric lighting effects with references to DIY culture, what’s gendered as “men’s work,” and car and motorcycle culture. The Home Depot receipt, which typically uses the slogan “Did we nail it?,” is combined with an image of a rear-view mirror depicted so close that it initially appears abstract.

      Bellamy examines the dualities and precarity of life in Southern California—a seeming paradise we’ve witnessed can be swiftly devastated by fire and drought. The title Temperature Change is also a double entendre, suggesting meteorological readings and a figurative expression used when measuring a group mood or opinion. Through surreal imagery and echoes of mass production and consumerism, the artist invokes a noir reverie.

      Temperature Check runs from February 8 to March 22 in Los Angeles. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “Box Fan (AM)” (2025), oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 32 inches

      “American Airlines Passenger Ticket 2 (after Warhol)” (2023), oil on canvas, 32 x 60 inches

      “Playa Larga (Coquina Combination Pill Pack)” (2023), oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 42 1/2 inches

      “A Subspecies of Journalism” (2023), oil on canvas, 59 x 43 1/2 inches

      “A Splendid Paradox” (2022), oil on canvas, 70 x 52 inches

      “Curtain of Sky” (2024), oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 48 inches

      “Horizontal Thrust I (Blue graffiti highway)” (2025), oil on canvas, 26 x 70 inches

      “Driveway Moment” (2025), oil on canvas, 57 1/2 x 47 inches

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    • 138 Shares189 Views

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      Elemental Shifts and Enigmatic Narratives Anchor Rupy C. Tut’s Mystical Paintings

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      “A River of Dreams” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 62 x 42 1/4 x 2 inches framed. Photos by Phillip Maisel. All images courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco

      Elemental Shifts and Enigmatic Narratives Anchor Rupy C. Tut’s Mystical Paintings

      February 3, 2025

      ArtClimateSocial Issues

      Kate Mothes

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      Verdant scenery inhabited by vibrant wildlife and graceful feminine figures center in the work of Rupy C. Tut, whose paintings (previously) draw upon her Sikh ancestry and experiences emigrating from India as a young girl. “As an environmentalist and Indian-American woman, she never takes place for granted,” says a statement from Jessica Silverman Gallery, which represents the artist.

      Tut’s ethereal works tread the boundaries between abstraction, portraiture, pattern, and traditional Indian painting. Her compositions introduce narratives—often captivatingly mysterious—that highlight enigmatic mystical, elemental, and spiritual phenomena.

      “Bursting with Clouds” (2024) handmade pigments on linen, 41 1/2 x 61 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed

      The artist’s subjects typically exist front-and-center, like in “A River of Dreams,” in which a figure sits in a stream and observes a lily while dark clouds move in above. Motifs of darkening skies and dramatic change continue in recent works like “Bursting with Clouds” and “The First Rain.”

      Oscillating between idyllic paradises, anxieties around climate disasters, and gender constraints, Tut focuses on female figures, turning the tables on a genre that typically focuses on male achievements. “I question traditional roles and labels while preserving traditional practices,” she says.

      Tut was a 2024 recipient of the Joan Mitchel Foundation Fellowship, and her work is on view in the group exhibition About Place at San Francisco’s de Young through the end of November. You can explore more on her website and Instagram.

      “A Place Dear to Me” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed

      “The First Rain” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed

      “Riding my Thunder” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 inches framed

      “Where Dreams Flow” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 42 1/8 x 82 x 2 inches framed

      “Bowing to the Cosmos” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 3/8 x 41 5/8 x 2 inches framed

      “Archipelago” (2024), handmade pigments on linen; diptych, 61 1/2 x 83 x 2 1/4 inches overall, framed

      “Escaping the Heat” (2024), handmade pigments on hemp paper, 13 3/4 x 18 3/8 x 1 1/2 inches framed

      “A Natural Thought” (2025), handmade pigments on linen, 81 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 inches framed

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    • 125 Shares159 Views

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      Reflections and Human Connections Resonate in Marina Kappos’ Optical Paintings

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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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    • 188 Shares199 Views

      in Art

      In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers

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      Rebecca Louise Law, “Calyx” (2023). Image courtesy of the artist

      In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers

      January 29, 2025

      ArtNaturePhotography

      Grace Ebert

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      In nature, flowers serve as an essential component of the reproduction process. But for humans, scented blooms are ripe with myriad meanings and symbolism that transcend their biological functions.

      During Victorian times, offering a bouquet to someone with your right hand indicated a non-verbal “yes,” while a yellow carnation would reject an admirer. Similarly in art history, wilting flowers rendered as a momento mori remind us of death’s inevitability, and for van Gogh, sunflowers were the perfect stand-in for gratitude.

      Aimée Hoving, “Compost” (2019). Image © Aimee Hoving, flowers by Brigitte Gentis van Dam Merrett

      A massive exhibition opening next month at Saatchi Gallery cultivates a vast repertoire of works that explores how blooms have become an omnipresent entity in human life and creativity. Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture brings together more than 500 photographs, installations, sculptures, archival pieces, and other objects to create a rich landscape spanning millennia.

      Anchoring the exhibition is an expansive and immersive work of 100,000-plus dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law. Smaller pieces include Xuebing Du’s ethereal photos of flowers in natural light, VOYDER’s streaky steam-laden compositions, and lush, vibrant gardens by Faye Bridgewater.

      Opening in time to usher in spring in London, Flowers runs from February 12 to May 5.

      VOYDER, “In Love with the Idea of You” (2024). Image courtesy of the artist

      Kasia Wozniak, “Anemoia #7.” Image courtesy of the artist

      Sandra Kantanen, “Still Life (Flowers I).” Image courtesy the artist and Purdy Hicks Gallery

      Xuebing Du, “Mother of Pearl” (2018). Image courtesy of the artist

      Carmen Mitrotta, “Geometric Leaves.” Image courtesy the artist

      Faye Bridgewater, “En Masse” (2025). Image courtesy of the artist

      Ann von Freyburg, “Floral Arrangement 1 (After Jan van Huysum, Still Life).” Image courtesy of the artist

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    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      Chunbo Zhang Sandwiches Rich American Fare Between Ancient Chinese Treasures

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      All images courtesy of Chunbo Zhang, shared with permission

      Chunbo Zhang Sandwiches Rich American Fare Between Ancient Chinese Treasures

      January 24, 2025

      ArtFood

      Grace Ebert

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      In Chunbo Zhang’s Food Treasure series, cheese oozes from a patterned porcelain crust, while grease pools around a burger with a ceramic-like bun. Painted in acrylic or watercolor, the delicate compositions capture the gluttony and excess of the quintessential American diet.

      Zhang, who’s based in Chicago, began the series in 2018 after moving to the U.S. and was struggling to adapt to her new surroundings, particularly regarding food. “It is not only essential in our daily life but also an entry point for foreigners to understand an unfamiliar culture,” she tells Colossal.

      The artist found American dairy products difficult to digest and popular desserts like donuts and Oreos far too sweet. As she wondered how to bridge the divide between her Chinese background and adopted home, she began to paint realistic renderings of epicurean delights like deep-dish pizza and bagels thick with schmear. Except where a viewer might expect to find a glistening egg-wash glaze or crispy crust, Zhang painted motifs from antique porcelain.

      Food Treasure depicts many of the dishes on a larger scale, nodding to both the immense portions of the American diet and also the outsized impact meals have on shaping our cultural identities. Each work emphasizes myriad tensions: hard and soft, raw and cooked, inedible and nourishing, ancient and contemporary, functional and decorative, high and low aesthetics. Reflecting Zhang’s anxieties, the works ask, “Do the two cultures fight each other or can they merge?”

      Questions like this are fundamental to the series and inform how Zhang chooses reference imagery from Chinese wares that correspond to the dish. For example, the cheeseburger is sandwiched between a motif that represents long life and happiness, another dichotomy considering the diner fare is unlikely to find itself among any dietician’s recommendations. These patterns also reflect movement and migration as blue-and-white porcelain and elaborate, vivid florals emerged from cultural exchanges dating back to the 13th century.

      In 2023, Zhang began to think about the ways food travels and painted an iteration of a drippy cheeseburger on remnants of a large FedEx box. The cardboard canvas references to-go culture and how pre-prepared and restaurant meals are often removed from their original context and consumed.

      Several works from the Food Treasure series are on view through April 27 in Sustenance & Land at Elmhurst Art Museum. Find more on Zhang’s website.

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    • 113 Shares159 Views

      in Art

      Reen Barrera’s Expressive ‘Ohlala’ Characters Evoke Emotions and Empowerment

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      All images courtesy of Reen Barrera, shared with permission

      Reen Barrera’s Expressive ‘Ohlala’ Characters Evoke Emotions and Empowerment

      January 23, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Sporting colorful garments and richly patterned faces, Reen Barrera’s doll sculptures (previously) evoke an expressive, make-believe world. Often dressed in striped tops and hand-stitched hoods with animalistic ears, his imaginative Ohlala characters represent the universality of human emotions while emphasizing every individual’s unique qualities.

      Barrera creates the sculptures from wood and patchwork textiles, and he also makes paintings depicting Ohlala figures in pensive moments or expressing a sense of empowerment. Find his work at Art Central Hong Kong in March, and see more on his website and Instagram.

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    • 138 Shares109 Views

      in Art

      Dinosaurs Overrun a World Post Climate Disaster in Michael Kerbow’s Paintings

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      “Late Capitalism.” All images © Michael Kerbow, shared with permission

      Dinosaurs Overrun a World Post Climate Disaster in Michael Kerbow’s Paintings

      January 17, 2025

      ArtClimateNature

      Jackie Andres

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      After ending another year of record-breaking climate statistics, we stand at the precipice of 2025, which has already revealed its own devastating challenges. As the window for meaningful change continues to narrow during the next several years, we’re left to wonder what the world might look like if we stay on this path. Through the lens of hyper-consumerism, San Francisco-based artist Michael Kerbow (previously) envisions the future in his wry and imaginative landscape paintings.

      Swarming decayed gas station roofs, perching atop abandoned vehicles in forests, and sauntering past crumbling highways and fast food joints, the dinosaurs in Kerbow’s paintings govern a world overrun by the effects of late-stage capitalism. Hints of climate devastation reveal themselves through small details in the background, such as volcano eruptions, dense, hazy skies, and pools of floodwater.

      “Bypass”

      Kerbow scatters familiar signage and advertisements from recognizable chains within his scenes to introduce humor and make his work more approachable. However, the artist emphasizes the gravity of the issue at hand:

      We like to believe everything we currently have will always be there for us, but I suspect it could just as easily fall apart and slip away.  I try to stay optimistic about the future, but the truth is I am troubled by where I see things appear to be headed, specifically with the health of our ecosystem. Each passing year seems to bring more alarming statistics, and this comfortable place we call home seems to grow more precarious.  It is sobering to consider my artwork as foreshadowing a future reality.

      As Kerbow continues to make new paintings, you can follow along on Instagram and see his website for more.

      “Adaptive Reuse”

      “Vestige (Golden Arches)”

      “Black Monday”

      “Highwater”

      “Glade”

      “Economic Decline”

      “Siren Song”

      “Shadowplay”

      “Oasis”

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