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      Colorful Tufts of Tulle Float Down the California Coastline in New Photographs by Thomas Jackson

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      Art
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      #installation
      #textiles

      March 16, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Thomas Jackson, shared with permission
      2020 was a year of many realizations, but for Thomas Jackson (previously), the most profound was “proof of the adage that creativity thrives under constraints.” Known for suspending swarms of everyday objects on the rocky shores of the Isle of Man or desert locales across the southwest U.S., the photographer shifted his practice as lockdowns spread and limited his ability to travel beyond nearby landscapes.
      The resulting series reflects these restrictions and focuses on a single location and adaptable material: swaths of colorful nylon float above the beaches and down the California coastline, creating compositions that juxtapose the natural environment with the bright, manufactured materials. “I chose tulle for its mutability—depending on how it’s arranged and how the wind catches it, it can morph from a solid to a liquid, to fire to billowing smoke,” Jackson says.
      Shot on 4×5 film with little to no editing, the photographs convey a pared-down approach. Rather than hire people to help him install the sculptural objects in exact positions, Jackson utilized driftwood to prop up the lightweight textiles and the wind to infuse the fabric with movement. He explains:
      On every shoot, Northern California’s offshore breezes were my collaborator, the force that transformed my installations from lifeless fabric to living things. As collaborations go it was a tumultuous one—of the twenty or so pieces I built and photographed last year, thirteen were failures—but along the way, I learned a thing or two about the importance of staying on nature’s good side. When I built pieces that obstructed or defied the wind in any way, I’d go home unhappy, but when my constructions respected and responded to the wind, interesting things would occur!
      Jackson shares a wide array of his work that mimics the amorphous, self-organizing patterns of birds, insects, and other animals, along with behind-the-scenes shots and footage of his process, on Instagram.

      #installation
      #textiles

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      Six Quirky Houseplants Made from Collaged Photos Spring from a Pop-Up Book by Daniel Gordon

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      Art
      Photography

      #books
      #collage
      #fruit
      #paper
      #plants
      #pop-ups
      #sculpture

      March 9, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      From Daniel Gordon: Houseplants (Aperture, 2020). All images © Daniel Gordon/Aperture, photographs and video by Black&Steil/Aperture
      Say goodbye to the days of buying succulents only to watch them wilt and shrivel. Just flip open a pop-up book by photographer Daniel Gordon, and find a collection of forever-perky shrubs and greenery sprouting from the pages.
      Published by Aperture, Houseplants features quirky still lifes of potted vegetation and fruit that Gordon developed using photographs found online, a process that’s central to his overall practice. The obviously constructed forms, which were created by self-described paper engineer Simon Arizpe, juxtapose the realistic nature of the plants with saturated colors and unusual depth, resulting in scenes that are distinctly informed by the internet and the melding of digital and analog techniques. “The seamlessness of the ether is boring to me, but the materialization of that ether, I think, can be very interesting,” Gordon says in a statement.
      To add the sculptural greens to your collection, pick up a copy of Houseplants from Aperture or Bookshop, and explore more of the Brooklyn-based photographer’s vibrant, collaged projects on his site and Instagram. (via Juxtapoz)

      #books
      #collage
      #fruit
      #paper
      #plants
      #pop-ups
      #sculpture

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      Dozens of Mushroom Characters Populate a Family Tree in Whimsically Painted Photographs by Jana Paleckova

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      Art
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      #found photographs
      #mushrooms
      #oil painting
      #painting

      March 3, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Jana Paleckova, shared with permission
      An affinity for fleshy spores runs in the long line of ancestors laid out in a family tree by Jana Paleckova. The Prague-based artist layers antique photographs with playful oil paintings of spindly enoki or ribbed chanterelle, creating hybrid characters brimming with fungi-fueled personalities. “There are many types of mushrooms, all of which have different characteristics. Just like people,” she says.
      In a note to Colossal, Paleckova says she was prompted to start the whimsical project when she was flipping through her family’s atlas of fungi. “Czech people are known mushroom hunters. It’s quite common for families to go out looking for mushrooms together,” she says. This atlas later served as a reference point for the 90 small portraits, which consist of the dozens of vintage photographs that the artist sourced from flea markets, that comprise the sprouted kin.
      Paleckova’s body of work features a variety of surreal combinations, like eggheads, human-spider hybrids, and balloons shaped like children, all of which you can find on her site and Instagram.

      #found photographs
      #mushrooms
      #oil painting
      #painting

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      Dozens of Contemporary Artists Collaborate with Puzzles with Purpose to Create Limited-Edition Jigsaws

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      Art
      Photography

      #games
      #puzzles

      February 5, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “My soul ain’t for sale” by Nicole Rafiki
      The team at Puzzles with Purpose launched a multi-pronged initiative last fall that directly supports artists and charities around the globe while giving the rest of us a much-needed distraction. Art X Puzzles tasked more than 80 creatives—the list includes Louise Lawler, Nicole Rafiki, Spencer Tunick (previously), and Pixy Liao—with producing a unique work for a limited-edition jigsaw and choosing a social-justice or COVID-relief organization to share proceeds with. The paper, wood, or magnetic puzzles vary in size and difficulty and are accompanied by an engraved USB drive with a certificate of authentication, the original image, and information about the artist. We’ve gathered some of our favorite works below, but you can shop the entire collection on Puzzles with Purpose’s site.

      “WHATS COOLER THAN BEING COOL?” by Mario Moore
      “Big Color” by Spencer Tunick
      “Rendetore #16” by Alessandro Belgiojoso
      “Things We Talk About” by Pixy Liao
      “Woman with Goat and Surgical Mask” by Kharis Kennedy

      #games
      #puzzles

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      Lorna Simpson Photographs Rihanna in an Elegantly Collaged Collaboration for ESSENCE Magazine

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      Art
      Photography

      #celebrities
      #collage
      #found photographs
      #magazines

      January 25, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Of Earth & Sky (Blue Cumulus)” (2020), collage and ink on paper. All images © Lorna Simpson, courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth
      An extraordinarily glamorous collaboration graces the pages of ESSENCE’s January/February 2021 issue. The print publication paired acclaimed artist Lorna Simpson and pop icon and businesswoman Rihanna for a striking interpretation of modern beauty.
      Within the Of Earth & Sky series are 12 collages and the cover image, which features Rihanna, eyelids coated in bright blue, staring directly at the camera. A diamond collar drapes around her neck, and she’s adorned with a roughly textured crown of crystal derived from 19th-century lithographs.
      Many of the superimposed collages feature the Barbados-born singer framed in archival imagery, from star-studded galactic coiffes to bright bursts of watercolor. Others in the collection stray from hairstyle transformations and instead position her against vintage backdrops, including one shot of Rihanna donning an elaborately feathered headdress and lingerie in front of the city skyline.
      Brooklyn-based Simpson is known for her kaleidoscopic collages centered on Black women that pull imagery from back issues of Ebony and Jet, a treatment she applies to ESSENCE‘s first-ever commission. The layered works are paired with an essay by the artist’s daughter, actress and model Zora Simpson Casebere, about Rihanna’s lasting influence on her own career. For more of Simpson’s collages that intersect contemporary culture and retro imagery, head to her site. (via Artnet)

      “Of Earth & Sky (Nebula)” (2020), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Cover)” (2020), collage on paper
      “Earth & Sky #24” (2016), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Bivalve)” (2020), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Moving Planets) “(2020), collage on paper
      “Of Earth & Sky (Bridge)” (2020), collage on paper

      #celebrities
      #collage
      #found photographs
      #magazines

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