satire
Subterms
Latest story
More stories
- in Art
Through Incisive Paintings, Toni Hamel Highlights Futile and Inadequate Responses to Global Issues
Art#climate crisis
#humor
#painting
#satire
#social commentary
#Toni HamelMarch 7, 2023
Grace Ebert More
- in Art
Oil Paintings by Paco Pomet Brighten Vintage Scenes with Satirical Elements in Color
Art
#humor
#oil painting
#painting
#satire
#social commentary
#surrealFebruary 10, 2022Grace Ebert“A Prequel” (2021), oil on canvas, 100 x 150 centimeters. All images © Paco PometSucceeding his series of paintings titled Beginnings, Paco Pomet’s Endings applies a similarly satirical veil to his provocative and outlandish scenarios: a cleaved camper reveals red steak marbled with fat, businessmen shake hands through an elongated finger trap, and a woman walks a hand-standing friend on a leash. The Spanish artist (previously) is known for his keen sense of wit and humor and distinct visual commentary on contemporary issues like capitalism, the degradation of the environment, and moments in American history that have global impacts. He shares in an interview:I am very interested in current affairs, but in order to fully understand today’s world, it is necessary to look back and examine historical events. The past is full of hints that can unveil the present, so in some ways, we could paraphrase that statement which says that there’s nothing new under the sun. I have always thought that subjects and themes remain the same over centuries, and that human pursuits, aspirations, and chimeras are cyclical. Nowadays, we might have different tools and ways of approaching those issues, but the important questions remain the same, even though the way they show up changes throughout the years.Often working with anachronistic scenes and symbols, Pomet depicts children of a past era sparring with glowing lightsabers in “A Prequel” and a vintage car blurring into a trail of greens and yellows in “Trip.” Each oil painting is rendered largely in neutral tones with bright, colorful elements supplying the artist’s signature dose of irony.You can explore an archive of Pomet’s surreal works and follow his latest compositions on Instagram.“Prime” (2021), oil on canvas, 38 x 46 centimeters“Rearguard” (2021), oil on canvas, 38 x 46 centimeters“The Restrainers” (2021), oil on canvas, 60 x 73 centimeters“The Last Executive Committee Meeting” (2021), oil on canvas, 130 x 150 centimeters“Amblers” (2021), oil on canvas, 73 x 60 centimeters“Apart” (2021), oil on canvas, 130 x 170 centimeters“Trip” (2021), oil on canvas, 100 x 150 centimeters“Dissident” (2021), oil on canvas, 130 x 170 centimeters
#humor
#oil painting
#painting
#satire
#social commentary
#surrealDo 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! Share this story More - in Art
‘Fake Food, Real Garbage’: A Satirical Store is Fully Stocked with Groceries Made Entirely of Plastic
Art
Food#installation
#plastic
#satire
#storesJuly 7, 2021
Grace EbertPhoto by Tony Lewis. All images courtesy of UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, shared with permission
Wander into a new pop-up grocery store in Downtown Los Angeles, and you’ll find all of the typical options with an unusual twist: freezers stocked with tubs of “Bag & Jerry’s,” a robust produce section with bananas and tomatoes printed with advertisements, and mysteriously gray “polluted sausage” stuck to styrofoam trays.
Dubbed “The Plastic Bag Store,” the witty and satirical installation is the project of Robin Frohardt, who repurposed scores of bottle caps, packaging, and other single-use materials into a full-fledged grocery. Each of the non-edible items—many of which have undergone clever rebrands, meaning you’ll find family-sized boxes of Yucky Shards cereal, cases of Bagorade bottles, and clamshells of Earthbag Farms non-organic spring mix in the aisles—is made entirely with discarded waste that the Brooklyn-based artist, puppet-maker, and designer collected from garbage bins and trash sites.Photo by Bailey Holiver
Paired with a performative component that envisions how future generations will interpret the inordinate amount of waste produced in today’s world, the installation literally displays the longevity of the items many of us use on a daily basis. According to recent estimations, the amount of plastic in the ocean is predicted to exceed the volume of fish by 2050, an ongoing crisis Frohardt wants to make more apparent. “’The Plastic Bag Store’ is a visually rich and humorous experience that hopefully encourages a different way of thinking about the foreverness of plastic, the permanence of the disposable and that there is no ‘away’ when we throw something out,” she says.
The grocery, which debuted in Times Square last fall with the tagline “Fake Food, Real Garbage,” is open at UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance through July 11. You can find more of Frohardt’s projects, many of which critique mass consumerism and capitalism through a humorous lens, on her site and Instagram. (via Hyperallergic)Photo by Bailey Holiver
Photo by Bailey Holiver
Photo by Maria Baranova
Photo by Tony Lewis
Photos by Maria Baranova
Photo by Maria Baranova
Photo courtesy of Rundle Mall#installation
#plastic
#satire
#storesDo 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!
Share this story
More - in Art
Coronavirus Satirically Tops Kitsch Figurines Sculpted with Porcelain
Art#ceramics
#COVID-19
#porcelain
#satireMay 20, 2021
Grace Ebert“Holland” (2021). All images © Chrystl Rijkeboer, shared with permission
Artist Chrystl Rijkeboer contemporizes sentimental porcelain figurines with a present-day twist: spiky COVID-19 molecules obscure the characters’ facial features, rendering the largely wealthy and ornately dressed figures both anonymous and commonplace in modern contexts.
Whether posing for a portrait or mid-curtesy, Rijkeboer’s pieces satirize the long-crafted Meissen figurines, which have been in production since the 18th Century and often romanticize an antiquated world “where women do not represent any relevance but being nice and glamourous,” she tells Colossal. “For me, it is mostly about the position as a woman and an artist. The pandemic made it quite clear that artists are the first to be labeled as unnecessary.”
Living and working in Haarlem, The Netherlands, Rijkeboer has crafted an extensive COVID-themed collection, which includes ubiquities like Zoom calls and masks, all of which you can see on her site. (via Lustik)“Alice” (2021)
“Will we ever play and dance again together?” (2020)
Left: “Covid Duet #2 Brown” (2021). Right: “Dangerous Liaisons” (2020)
“Girl with Carrots & Rabbit” (2021)
Left: “Covid Couple” (2020). Right: “Covid Duet Blue” (2021)
“La Famiglia” (2021)
Left: “Covid Symphony #3” (2021). Right: Left: “Covid Symphony #4” (2021)
“Music Friends, boy with guitar & girl with flute” (2021)#ceramics
#COVID-19
#porcelain
#satireDo 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!
Share this story
More - in Art
David Shrigley Designs a Collection of Phone Cases and Tech Accessories with His Signature Witty Illustrations
Art
Design
Illustration#humor
#satire
#technologyMay 14, 2021
Grace EbertAll images courtesy of Casetify
David Shrigley’s famously dry sense of humor and satirical quips grace a new collection of phone cases and other accessories. The British artist (previously) is collaborating with Casetify on a forthcoming line—it includes a dozen iPhone cases, plus Apple Watch bands, AirPods covers, stands, chargers, in addition to sleek laptop sleeves and bags—featuring his signature bold drawings alongside reminders to “be nice” and “work hard, play hard, eat a huge pizza.” One illustration, the pastel wolf, is even designed to howl a custom phrase.
As part of the collaboration, 100 limited-edition black mirror cases printed with a multi-color “There are no rules” will be released through a lottery, which you can enter starting next week on Casetify’s site. The rest of the designs go on sale on May 25. (via It’s Nice That)#humor
#satire
#technologyDo 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!
Share this story
More - in Art
Ironic Compositions Juxtapose Outlandish Scenarios in Paco Pomet’s New Paintings
Art#humor
#oil painting
#painting
#satire
#social commentary
#surrealApril 8, 2021
Grace Ebert“The Lesson” (2020), oil on canvas, 130 x 170 centimeters. All images © Paco Pomet, shared with permission
In Beginnings, Spanish artist Paco Pomet (previously) visualizes a series of jarring and absurd scenarios born out of an equally concerning event. He juxtaposes disparate elements—a mushroom cloud erupting in a classroom, women cavalierly poking at a tabletop sunrise, a mountain range lying on an operating table—in a series of satirical commentaries infused with pop culture references and nods to art history.
Generally contrasting a black-and-white scene with a recurring, full-color sunrise or sunset, Pomet’s compositions merge time periods and situations to mark the start of a new reality, a broad theme tied to the current moment. “Romanticism with a twist of irony is a very powerful visual engine,” he says about the series.
If you’re in Santa Monica, Beginnings is on view through May 8 at Richard Heller Gallery. Otherwise, find more of Pomet’s humorous and bizarre compositions on Artsy and Instagram.“Little Big Grief” (2020), oil on canvas, 51 1/5 × 66 9/10 inches
“Hesperides” (2020), oil on canvas, 51 1/5 × 66 9/10 inches
“Melancholy School” (2020), oil on canvas, 51 1/5 × 59 1/10 inches
“The Art of Scaling” (2020), oil on canvas, 51 1/5 × 59 1/10 inches
“Headstrong” (2020), oil on canvas, 23 3/5 × 28 7/10 inches
“Classicism” (2021), oil on canvas, 60 × 73 inches
“Das Erhabene Büro (diptych)” (2020), oil on canvas, 59 1/10 × 102 2/5 inches#humor
#oil painting
#painting
#satire
#social commentary
#surrealDo 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!
Share this story
More - in Art
Demented Toys by Obvious Plant Confront Harsh Realities and the Mundanity of Life
Art
Design#games
#humor
#pop culture
#satire
#toysFebruary 2, 2021
Grace EbertAll images © Obvious Plant
Unless you want a distraught child, double-check the packaging of your next purchase in case you accidentally snag a one-off toy by Jeff Wysaski, aka Obvious Plant. For years, he’s been littering supermarket and drugstore shelves with his action figures and small games that cleverly comment on capitalism and the harsh realities we all experience, from a birthday for one—it “includes one party blower because that is all you will need”—to a “childless couple” riding matching jet skis. Sometimes parodying pop culture, the elaborate designs are paired with witty copy and a slew of intentional spelling errors, including warnings that “everybody dies, even bird.”
Many of the subversive products, shirts, and other goods are available in the Obvious Plant shop, although they sell out quickly. To stay up-to-date on the latest designs, follow Wysaski on Instagram.#games
#humor
#pop culture
#satire
#toysDo 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!
Share this story
More
