sculpture Archivi ~ art-news.space - All about the world of art and culture!

Latest story

138 Shares38 Views

Wood and Ceramic ‘Guardian’ Assemblages by Expanded Eye Emphasize Earthy Materials

by Aurelia Butler 9 July 2025, 18:52

Casa Mahala installation. All images courtesy of Expanded Eye, shared with permission

Wood and Ceramic ‘Guardian’ Assemblages by Expanded Eye Emphasize Earthy Materials

July 9, 2025

ArtCraft

Kate Mothes

Bookmark

Blurring the distinction between abstraction and figuration, Expanded Eye’s recent works explore themes of the divine feminine and “the peaceful power of the Earthmother,” the duo says. Comprising Lisbon-based artists Jade Tomlinson and Kevin James, Expanded Eye is known for characteristically geometric, figurative tattoos and assemblages (previously) that incorporate wood and repurposed materials into bold compositions. Through large-scale installations and framed pieces, the artists explore the possibilities of texture, pattern, and color.

Tomlinson and James have put their tattoo practice on hold to focus on sculptural reliefs. Ceramic, in particular, has become a central tenet of their practice, inspired by the rich tile tradition of Portugal, known as azulejo—an exemplification of cross-cultural exchange. The artists are interested in “using this grounding, ancient material from the earth to depict serene guardians in earth tone colors, to evoke stillness and calm in this fast-paced world.”

“Earth Flow” (2025), glazed hand-cut tiles in wooden tray frame, 58 x 48 centimeters

Past and present converge in Expanded Eye’s compositions, channeling an interest in timelessness and the continuum of clay, carving, and building methods. The graphic elements and fragmented features also call to early 20th-century art historical Modernism, especially the Cubist movement. It’s this “fusion of traditional materials with a unique modern approach that excites us—connecting the past to the present,” the artists tell Colossal.

Expanded Eye is currently working on their largest tile commission to date and plans to further merge ceramics with other facets of their practice. Explore more on the artists’ website and Instagram.

Casa Mahala installation

Detail of Casa Mahala installation

“Earth Mother” (2024), glazed and hand-cut tile panel in wooden tray frame, 117 x 71 centimeters

“Lunar Guardian” (2024), glazed and hand-cut tiles in wooden tray frame, 34.5 x 24 / 13 x 24 centimeters

“Guardians series 3” (2024), glazed and hand-cut tiles in wooden tray frame, 54.5 x 24 centimeters

“Earth Dance” (2025), glazed ceramic tile panel in wooden tray frame, 128 x 71 centimeters

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.

Hide advertising

Save your favorite articles

Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop

Receive members-only newsletter

Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms

Join us today!

$7/month

$75/year

Explore membership options

Next article More

More stories

138 Shares48 Views
in Art
Blackburn’s National Festival of Making Celebrates Collaborations Between Art and Industry
by Aurelia Butler 9 July 2025, 14:32
Morag Myerscough in collaboration with Crown Paints. Photos by Robin Zahler. All images courtesy of the artists and the National Festival of Making, shared with permission
Blackburn’s National Festival of Making Celebrates Collaborations Between Art and Industry
July 9, 2025
ArtCraftDesign
Kate Mothes
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
Every year, in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire, a vibrant festival erupts with creativity in a celebration of art, craft, and industry. This year marked the seventh edition of the National Festival of Making, organized along the theme of “Art in Manufacturing.” Acclaimed artists and designers teamed up with industry leaders to create works using a variety of materials, from Morag Myerscough’s collaboration with Crown Paints for a vibrant new mural to Liaqat Rasul’s partnership with textile producer Herbert Parkinson for an optical installation.
Locality played a central role in the festival, as artists were paired with manufacturers in Lancashire. Matter at hand, the design practice of Lewis Jones, teamed up with Darwen Terracotta and Faience, which focuses on traditional glazed earthenware for home products and restoration (faience is a type of tin-glazed pottery).
Liaqat Rasul in collaboration with Herbert Parkinson, “Umeed (Oh-meed) امید – Gobaith – Hope”
Matter at hand created a large-scale installation titled “Poured Earth,” which takes an architectural approach to materials in the northern transept of Blackburn Cathedral. The piece invites visitors to walk through an archway of wooden crates and around cast elements in various shapes and sizes, emphasizing the timelessness and continuity of earthen building materials and styles.
Morag Myerscough transformed a corner building into a characteristically vivid, geometric floral mural with complementary garden boxes and a water tank. Rasul’s piece, a multifaceted textile assemblage suspended in the Blackburn Cathedral crypt, features a friendly face made of independent elements that merge into a full visage when viewed from the front.
Titled “Umeed (Oh-meed) امید – Gobaith – Hope,” the piece was created from scraps salvaged from Herbert Parkinson’s factory floor in addition to the artist’s own archive. Rasul tenderly embroidered the Urdu, Hindu, and Welsh words for “hope” amid various found elements like cord and safety pins.
The National Festival of Making features a program of more than 100 workshops, performances, artist talks, markets, and more across more than 20 Blackburn venues. Emphasizing the power of collaboration, cross-disciplinary exploration, and community, the festival aims to empower people of all ages to lean into curiosity and get making.
Rasul and Lewis’s work will be on view through July 12, with Myerscough’s mural intended for long-term display. Find more on the festival’s website.
Matter at hand in collaboration with Darwen Terracotta, “Poured Earth”
Matter at hand in collaboration with Darwen Terracotta, “Poured Earth” (detail)
Morag Myerscough in collaboration with Crown Paints
Liaqat Rasul in collaboration with Herbert Parkinson, “Umeed (Oh-meed) امید – Gobaith – Hope” (detail)
Matter at hand in collaboration with Darwen Terracotta, “Poured Earth” (detail)
Detail of a mural by Morag Myerscough in collaboration with Crown Paints
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Previous articleNext article More
125 Shares59 Views
in Art
From Velvet and Vintage Textiles, Larysa Bernhardt Embroiders Otherworldly Moths
by Aurelia Butler 7 July 2025, 14:47
All images courtesy of Larysa Bernhardt, shared with permission
From Velvet and Vintage Textiles, Larysa Bernhardt Embroiders Otherworldly Moths
July 7, 2025
ArtCraftNature
Kate Mothes
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
“Mythology and folklore surrounding moths and butterflies carries complex and sometimes contradictory symbolism,” artist Larysa Bernhardt says. “I was always attracted to their paradoxical nature.” While on one hand, she dreads certain types of the winged creatures turning up in her house because of the risk they pose to textiles, she is fascinated by their variations and loves to see them thrive.
Dualities abound in Bernhardt’s sculptural, embroidered textile moths. Her creative process begins outdoors in a seemingly unrelated aspect of the studio—her garden. The artist tends to a “moon garden” every summer, comprising fragrant botanicals like tobacco, moonflower, datura, and jasmine that perfume the air and blossom with small white flowers that “glow in the dark like stars,” the artist says. Sphinx and luna moths often visit, accompanied by thousands of fireflies.
When the sun comes up, the garden transforms into a riot of color, with zinnias, poppies, and roses attracting daytime pollinators like butterflies and bees. “It’s the duality of it—night and day, sun and moon, moths and butterflies” that fascinates Bernhardt. She adds, “It’s an incredibly complex balancing act I am forever mesmerized by.”
Mirroring the supple fuzziness of the insects’ wings, the artist enjoys working with velvet to achieve the moths’ elegance and whimsy. It’s a challenging material because the pile can be unforgiving; make a mistake and the ghost of the stitch will remain as a mark on the fabric. Bernhardt stitches freehand when applying motifs to the wings, starting with a loose sketch but allowing intuition to guide her in creating star-like patterns and symbolic objects like vases or eyes.
Bernhardt also loves working with vintage needlepoints and old tapestries. “I find textile pieces in dusty corners of antique stores; I love these discoveries,” she says. “And I love giving them another chance to go back up on a wall and be admired again, cherished.”
The artist’s work is currently included in Daughters of Eve at Quirky Fox in Taranaki, New Zealand, and Beyond the Sea at Nanny Goat Gallery in Petaluma, California. In August, Bernhardt will be part of a show with Beinart Gallery in Melbourne, and she’s currently working toward a solo exhibition at Haven Gallery in Long Island, New York. Find more on her website and Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Previous articleNext article More
138 Shares98 Views
in Art
Vibrant Patterns in Frances Priest’s Ceramics Emanate Historical and International Influences
by Aurelia Butler 3 July 2025, 16:00
“Byzantine.” Photos by Shannon Toft. All images courtesy of Frances Priest, shared with permission
Vibrant Patterns in Frances Priest’s Ceramics Emanate Historical and International Influences
July 3, 2025
ArtCraft
Kate Mothes
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
In vibrant effusions of color, Frances Priest creates ceramic vessels, tiles, and sculptural forms that explore the possibilities of pattern. The Edinburgh-based artist’s interest in decorative motifs stems from a book she received as a child, The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, originally published in 1856.
Jones compiled elaborate documentation of decorative motifs around Europe, the Middle East, and other regions represented in British museum collections of the time. An international focus has long inspired Priest, who incorporates a wide range of visual languages into her pieces.
Jar with a chevron pattern
Priest (previously) emphasizes geometry and color, merging ideas of precision with organic movement—some of the elements appear to be floating away or overlapping playfully with others rather than remaining in perfect alignment. She also continues the patterns across the bottoms of the pieces, emphasizing an all-around completeness.
Recent works include a series of cylindrical vessels with lids influenced by Chinese ginger jars. The artist recently completed a large-scale tile commission for Theatre Clwyd in North Wales titled “Stellar,” and a series of encaustic floral tiles dotted the floor of a garden at London’s 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
If you’re in Edinburgh, see Priest’s work at &Gallery in the forthcoming group exhibition Fragments, which runs from July 5 to 30. Find more on the artist’s Instagram and website, where some of the pieces shown here are available for purchase in her shop.
Jars with (L-R) triangle, chevron, and bow patterns
Detail of the triangle-patterned jar
“Wait”
Installation view of “Byzantine”
Detail of “Byzantine”
“Pace”
Jar with a bow pattern
Detail of “Byzantine”
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Next article More
200 Shares104 Views
in Art
Explore Centuries of Art History 15 Minutes at a Time in James Payne’s ‘Great Art Explained’
by Aurelia Butler 2 July 2025, 21:55
All images courtesy of Great Art Explained
Explore Centuries of Art History 15 Minutes at a Time in James Payne’s ‘Great Art Explained’
July 2, 2025
ArtHistory
Kate Mothes
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
The art world is rife with persistent myths and associations, some of which are based on socio-economic factors that have prevailed for, well, millennia. For instance, wealthy patrons have historically been among the few who benefit in a system that can be exclusive and elitist. Whether we’re talking rich ancient Romans, the Medici family in Renaissance Florence, myriad kings and queens, or today’s major art collectors, the bottom line is most often money. For many, that’s a solid barrier to entry.
Another term that gets tossed around a lot is “gatekeeping.” Galleries, art dealers, museum curators, scholars, publishers, and so on assume roles as tastemakers and assessors, building relationships (or not) that often determine which artworks end up in public institutions, which shows receive attention, or which private collections artists’ pieces are destined to join. Gatekeeping is, by definition, the act of monitoring who “gets in,” reinforcing the notion of exclusivity. In short, it describes a multitude of potential barriers.
So, if the art world has historically always indulged the wealthy or felt like a realm for scholars and intellectuals, how can it be made more accessible? That’s what curator, gallerist, educator, and self-described passionate art lover James Payne is up to with Great Art Explained.
The video series began in May 2020, at the height of the pandemic, with the simple premise that great art can be “explained clearly and concisely in 15 minutes,” he says. Payne’s YouTube channel chronicles seminal artworks throughout the centuries, predominantly focusing on textbook titans of European and American art like Marcel Duchamp, Sandro Botticelli, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Johannes Vermeer, Salvador Dalí, and more.
Distilling the stories of iconic pieces into 15-minute explanations, Payne dives into some of the most groundbreaking moments in art history. The most recent video highlights a turning point in American art through the lens of Jackson Pollock’s splatter paintings, including “Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist),” which the artist painted on the floor of a Long Island barn in 1950.
Pollock’s methods, lifestyle, and views have long been polarizing, but he is most known for eschewing traditional brushwork—changing the course of art history, really—by pouring, dripping, and flinging paint onto canvas. Not only that, he removed the substrate from the wall and put it on the floor, challenging notions of formality and preciousness. There’s even a discarded cigarette and a few rogue insects permanently stuck to the surface.
Lee Krasner, “Combat” (1965), oil on canvas, 179 x 410.4 centimeters
“Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)” and similar works made around that time amounted to an artistic breakthrough for Pollock, who has come to exemplify the myth of the lone, troubled, so-called “cowboy painter.” (He was born in Cody, Wyoming, and was known to drink to excess; he died in 1956 in an alcohol-related car crash.) This period of his practice also spurred the Abstract Expressionist movement in New York City and marked a monumental shift in our appreciation of what painting can be.
Payne is interested in these kinds of trailblazing moments, but he emphasizes letting go of “art-speak” to bring us closer to significant works of art through a mini-documentary format. He releases a new video each month, plus an occasional sub-series called Great Art Cities that highlights a variety of destinations in collaboration with travel writer Joanne Shurvell.
“Sometimes the artwork is a springboard for other wider issues I would like to explore, and sometimes, it is a simple exploration of techniques and meaning,” Payne says. “For me, setting the works in context helps us appreciate them more.”
Payne’s work is supported via Patreon, and a Great Art Explained book is slated for release from Thames & Hudson later this year. And for the literary fans among us, he also runs another YouTube channel in a similar vein called Great Books Explained. (via Kottke)
Detail of Gustav Klimt, “The Kiss” (1908-09), oil and gold leaf on canvas, 180 x 180 centimeters
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Next article More
150 Shares125 Views
in Art
Ethereal Sculptures by Karen LaMonte Link Perceptions of Beauty, Femininity, and Nature
by Aurelia Butler 1 July 2025, 16:00
“Reclining Etude” (2017), cast glass, 23.5 x 59.5 x 28.5 centimeters. Photos by Martin Polak. All images courtesy of Karen LaMonte and Pratt Munson, shared with permission
Ethereal Sculptures by Karen LaMonte Link Perceptions of Beauty, Femininity, and Nature
July 1, 2025
Art
Kate Mothes
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
In porcelain, bronze, glass, and stone, Karen LaMonte’s sculptures explore ideas around femininity and conventions of beauty throughout history. She nods to time-honored sculptural traditions with silhouettes redolent of, for example, the three marble goddesses of the Parthenon pediment that have shaped classical sculpture and exemplified ideals of beauty for millennia.
LaMonte conceives of lounging or posing figures in her Nocturnes and Etudes series with gowns or robes that appear spectrally inhabited. “Like spoken or written language, beauty is shaped by common idioms and shared experiences that are the foundations of culture,” LaMonte says. “In this way, it is more than just a description; it is a reflection of a greater whole, a visual representation of what is valued in society.”
“Etude 13” (2017), cast glass, 65.5 x 48.5 x 19 centimeters
Munson Museum of Art just opened a survey of nearly 60 pieces titled Celestial Bodies: Sculpture by Karen LaMonte, exploring the artist’s use of various media. The artist juxtaposes a range of resilient, heavy-duty materials with exaggeratedly draped fabrics associated with softness and vulnerability, interrogating the intrinsic dualities between strength and fragility, visibility and absence, and solidity and transparency.
Celestial Bodies also includes a multimedia series of scientifically accurate depictions of cumulus clouds that billow ethereally from their bases. “Clouds intrigue me because they make visible the invisible forces of the natural world,” LaMonte says.
The more the artist explored the ripples and folds of fabric and drapery in her dress sculptures, the more she began to interpret the body as a landscape shaped and defined by the elements. LaMonte began to explore the notion of weather, and her series Weathering emerged, imbuing cloud forms with an elegant bodily quality.
Celestial Bodies continues through December 31 in Utica, New York. Find more on LaMonte’s website and Instagram.
Group of “Cumulus (1:8)” (2020–2023), various mediums and sizes
“Vortex” 2009, vitreous china, 91 x 330 x 10 centimeters
“Hanako” (2012), bronze, 122.5 x 50 x 44 centimeters
“Reclining Lucent 3” (2022), cast glass, 51.5 x 153 x 65.5 centimeters
“Cumulus (1:8)”
Group of “Cumulus (1:8)”
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Previous articleNext article More
163 Shares126 Views
in Art
Elodie Blanchard Revitalizes Fabric Scraps into Vivid Patchworks of Trees, Bouquets, and Goddesses
by Aurelia Butler 30 June 2025, 16:17
“Goddesses 11, 8, 9, 10.” Image © Randy Duchaine. All images courtesy of Elodie Blanchard, shared with permission
Elodie Blanchard Revitalizes Fabric Scraps into Vivid Patchworks of Trees, Bouquets, and Goddesses
June 30, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
The garments we wear often hold stories about our lives. A hole in the knee of a well-loved pair of jeans recalls hours spent bent down to tend to a vegetable garden, while a greasy oil stain condemns a T-shirt once worn to a family barbeque.
For Elodie Blanchard, textiles hold boundless narrative potential. Working with fabrics gathered from friends, stoops around her Brooklyn neighborhood, and secondhand shops, the French-American artist and designer stitches patchwork sculptures that transform materials otherwise destined for the landfill into vibrant forms. When searching for something more specific—say, Lycra, leather, or fur—the artist taps her friends in the industry and organizations like Materials for the Arts and FabScrap.
“Forest.” Image © Randy Duchaine
The resulting pieces take many shapes. There are Blanchard’s spindly trees that layer stripes of fabrics upward, creating visible rings encircling the trunk. Stretch is essential in these arboreal constructions, and the artist shares that she tends to alternate the amount of give a material has, allowing for small bulges and curves that resemble organic life.
For her sprawling bouquet series, Blanchard finds inspiration from Green-Wood Cemetery near her home. She scours the trash cans for polyester scraps, tattered flags, and other materials that once honored the dead. “Remembrance Happy Birthday,” for example, came to fruition after the artist found a balloon bearing those words.
Whether creating a figurative goddess or a three-dimensional vessel, the material guides the form. “It may look spontaneous, but I carefully consider color and pattern when sewing the strips together,” Blanchard says. “If I want to make a ‘fancy’ tree, I’ll seek out haute couture fabrics; if I’m creating a trophy urn meant to show excess, I’ll look for bright gold poly materials.” Whatever the form, though, Blanchard has a central goal: “Each time, I try to create a unique universe or personality.”
If you’re in New York, you can see some of Blanchard’s works in Soft Structures, on view through August 8 at Jane Lombard Gallery. She’s currently working toward an open studio and exhibition as part of New York’s Textile Month, and you can find more from the artist on her website and Instagram.
“Portraits,” installation view at SEEDS
“Remembrance Happy Birthday.” Image © Randy Duchaine
Detail of “Goddess 11”
“Urn VI” (2024), fabric, leather, Mylar balloon, 18 x 16 x 22 1/2 inches
“Bouquet 5.” Image © Paul Plews
“Bouquet 23”
Detail of “Remembrance Happy Birthday.” Image © Randy Duchaine
“Urn I Love You” (2025), fabric, leather, mylar balloon, 28 x 19 x 17 inches
“Remembrance Ninja Turtles.” Image © Randy Duchaine
Detail of “Remembrance Ninja Turtles.” Image © Randy Duchaine
Elodie Blanchard with trees (2022). Image © Randy Duchaine
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Next article More
163 Shares151 Views
in Art
Alicja Kwade Reflects the Warped Nature of Time and Reality in Poetic Installations
by Aurelia Butler 25 June 2025, 21:04
Installation view of ‘Telos Tales’ (2025). All photos courtesy of Pace Gallery, shared with permission
Alicja Kwade Reflects the Warped Nature of Time and Reality in Poetic Installations
June 25, 2025
Art
Grace Ebert
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
Square steel bars give way to knotted branches covered with patina in Alicja Kwade’s monumental meditation on time. Anchoring Telos Tales at Pace Gallery in New York is a sculpture in which architecture and nature converge.
Mirrored cylinders hang among the structures with distorted clock faces on their ends. Warping further as viewers move around the forms, these timepieces reflect the ways we are all bound up with the passing of the days. Time, Kwade suggests, skews our perceptions and realities and is only partially in our control. Whereas the city conforms to human design, nature doesn’t, and neither wholly does time.
“In Blur” (2022), powder-coated stainless steel, mirror, stones, objects, 410 x 4,700 x 13,300 centimeters. Photo by Lance Gerber
Born in Poland and now based in Berlin, Kwade (previously) is known for confronting long-held beliefs through sculptures, installations, film, photography, and more. Her preferred materials are minimal, including stainless steel and stone. Mirrors play an important role, too, and in large-scale works like “Duodecuple Be-Hide,” panels slot between granite and marble spheres and lookalikes of patinated bronze.
Much like Telos Tales, this sculpture utilizes these sleek reflective surfaces to call our perception into question. Altering the images they reveal depending on the viewer’s position, each mirror becomes a sort of portal in which the organic forms and bronze are replicated again and again, creating a seemingly endless array of alternate realities. A similar phenomenon occurs in “In Blur.” Surrounded by trees and stones in a desert, mirrored panels reflect the environment, while simultaneously hiding what lies behind.
“It’s very much about human nature, (the) nature of reality, how we understand our own world,” Kwade says about her recent work. “It questions what our position is in the structure of this universe we are kind of thrown into.”
Telos Tales is on view through August 15. Explore more of Kwade’s work on her website and Instagram.
Installation view of ‘Telos Tales’ (2025)
Installation view of ‘Telos Tales’ (2025)
Installation view of ‘Telos Tales’ (2025)
Installation view of ‘Telos Tales’ (2025)
“Duodecuple Be-Hide” (2020), granite, patinated bronze, mirror, marble, 110.4 x 225 x 225 centimeters. Photo by Roman März
“Duodecuple Be-Hide” (2020), granite, patinated bronze, mirror, marble, 110.4 x 225 x 225 centimeters. Photo by Roman März
“In Blur” (2022), powder-coated stainless steel, mirror, stones, objects, 410 x 4,700 x 13,300 centimeters. Photo by Lance Gerber
“Trans-For-Men 6” (2019), mirror, Carrara marble, concrete, granite, patinated bronze, bronze polished, stainless steel, 117 x 77 x 574.3 centimeters. Photo by Roman März, courtesy of the artist and KÖNIG Galerie
Detail of “Trans-For-Men 6” (2019), mirror, Carrara marble, concrete, granite, patinated bronze, bronze polished, stainless steel, 117 x 77 x 574.3 centimeters. Photo by Roman März, courtesy of the artist and KÖNIG Galerie
‘Blues Days Dust, Mennour’ (2024). Photo © Alicja Kwade, courtesy of Archives Mennour and the artist
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Next article More
125 Shares93 Views
in Art
Roméo Mivekannin’s Cage-Like Sculptures of Museums Reframe the Colonial Past
by Aurelia Butler 24 June 2025, 15:49
Photos by Gerret Schultz. All images courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm, shared with permission
Roméo Mivekannin’s Cage-Like Sculptures of Museums Reframe the Colonial Past
June 24, 2025
ArtHistorySocial Issues
Kate Mothes
Share
Pin
Email
Bookmark
Known for bold, chiaroscuro paintings that reimagine European art historical masterworks in his own likeness, Roméo Mivekannin is interested in the Western, colonial gaze on Africa and the power of archives to reveal underrepresented or untold stories. Born on the Ivory Coast, Mivekannin splits his time between Toulouse, France, and Cotonou, Benin. His practice interrogates visibility, appropriation, and power dynamics through direct and unflinching pieces spanning acrylic painting, installation, and sculpture.
At Art Basel last weekend, in collaboration with Galerie Barbara Thumm and Cécile Fakhoury, Mivekannin presented a large-scale installation titled Atlas, comprising a series of metal buildings suspended from the ceiling. Modeled after institutional buildings—in this case, museums that house enthographic collections—the artist draws attention to the colonialist practices and ethical gray areas that permeate these spaces and their histories.
Often founded upon controversial or dubiously-acquired personal collections of European urban elites, larger museums historically emphasized what was seen as “primitive” or “exotic,” exhibiting a skewed view of world cultures framed by a colonialist mindset. The British Museum, for example, was established in 1753 upon the death of Sir Hans Sloane, whose collection of more than 80,000 “natural and artificial rarities” provided the institution’s foundation. His wealth—and his collection—was amassed in part through enslaved labor on his sugar plantations in Jamaica.
Another well-known example of problematic collections include thousands of Benin Bronzes, housed in European institutions like the British Museum and others. British forces acquired many of these elaborately decorated plaques through pillage and looting in the late 19th century. Today, some museums have agreed to repatriate the bronzes to redress this historical indignity (the British Museum is still in discussions).
As a student of both art and architecture, Mivekannin taps into the way certain structures and built environments are designed to convey prestige and dominance. He is also currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the National Superior School of Architecture of Montpellier (ENSAM).
In Atlas, the structures take on the form of bird cages suspended from chains. Both elements symbolize captivity, likening ethnographic collections that often include human remains to what the Atlas exhibition statement describes as “human zoos.” In this context, the cages “serve as a reminder of the historical practices that sought to control and exploit ‘the Other.’”
Mivekannin bridges past and present in this installation, inviting viewers to walk around the museums within a space that shifts the power dynamic. The work encourages viewers “to confront uncomfortable truths about colonial legacies and their ongoing impact on our contemporary society.”
The artist scales down the museums’ palatial details to a diminutive size, displayed low, taking into consideration a kind of meta experience of the exhibition itself. In Mivekannin’s portrayal, the structures are both the cages and the caged.
A show of the artist’s paintings, Black Mirror, is currently on view at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy, through July 27. See more on the artist’s Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now, and support independent arts publishing.
Hide advertising
Save your favorite articles
Get 15% off in the Colossal Shop
Receive members-only newsletter
Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms
Join us today!
$7/month
$75/year
Explore membership options
Previous articleNext article More

sculpture

Latest story

Wood and Ceramic ‘Guardian’ Assemblages by Expanded Eye Emphasize Earthy Materials

More stories

Blackburn’s National Festival of Making Celebrates Collaborations Between Art and Industry

From Velvet and Vintage Textiles, Larysa Bernhardt Embroiders Otherworldly Moths

Vibrant Patterns in Frances Priest’s Ceramics Emanate Historical and International Influences

Explore Centuries of Art History 15 Minutes at a Time in James Payne’s ‘Great Art Explained’

Ethereal Sculptures by Karen LaMonte Link Perceptions of Beauty, Femininity, and Nature

Elodie Blanchard Revitalizes Fabric Scraps into Vivid Patchworks of Trees, Bouquets, and Goddesses

Alicja Kwade Reflects the Warped Nature of Time and Reality in Poetic Installations

ITALIAN LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE