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      In ‘Passing Time,’ Seth Clark’s Jumbled Old Houses Play, Leap, and Explore

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      All images courtesy of Seth Clark and Paradigm Gallery + Studio, Philadelphia, shared with permission

      In ‘Passing Time,’ Seth Clark’s Jumbled Old Houses Play, Leap, and Explore

      June 2, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Crumbling shingle roofs, peeling plywood, and fragmented framing characterize much of Seth Clark’s recent work, in which spheres or mounds of dilapidated houses serve as studies of texture, material, time, and neglect. In new work on view this week in his solo exhibition Passing Through at Paradigm Gallery + Studios, he’s made one mindful addition: limbs.

      The Pittsburgh-based artist’s collaged paper paintings, pastel and ink transfer drawings, and sculptures reflect his interest in the chaotic aesthetic of collapsing houses. More recently, his jumbled compositions have sprouted legs, strolling or running and adding a sense of both urgency and playfulness to the architectural forms.

      Drawing on daily observations and photographs, especially of Pittsburgh’s suburban row houses, Clark assembles references for window frames, siding, gables, roof lines, and more to emphasize various states of deterioration. Found materials and papers provide the paintings’ layered textures, which he then ages with ink washes, charcoal, graphite, pastel, and acrylic. His new works are dollhouse-like and a smidge brighter than in the past, with the addition of cheerful pinks, yellows, and purples to complement darker browns and grays.

      Clark’s anthropomorphized constructions suggest the nature of inhabiting—something akin to the soul of a place in addition to its physical makeup. The artist “attributes this change to recently becoming a father and developing an urge to instill hope into crumbling houses and broken window panes,” the gallery says. “What was first a sobering reminder of mortality has now become a message of how, even in states of chaos and decay, there can still be enough joy found in dark places to pick up the pieces and create something new.”

      Passing Through runs from June 6 to June 29 in Philadelphia. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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      Guardians of Time and Transformation Commune in Jeanne Vicerial’s ‘Nymphose’

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      Installation view of ‘Jeanne Vicerial: Nymphose’ at TEMPLON, Beauborg. Photos by Laurent Edeline. All images courtesy of the artist and TEMPLON, Paris – Bruxelles – New
      York, shared with permission

      Guardians of Time and Transformation Commune in Jeanne Vicerial’s ‘Nymphose’

      May 28, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      From lengths of black cord, thread, and fine metals, Jeanne Vicerial summons the ageless, transformative power of armor and protective garments in a new series of sculptures. Drawing on her body of work titled Armors, the artist continues to create enigmatic sculptures that question the nature of presence, consciousness, and change.

      In the artist’s current solo exhibition, Nymphose, at TEMPLON, darkly mysterious figures stand in silent, contemplative observation. Some works, like “Persephone n°3” or “Présence, Amnios,” portray semblances of human faces, while others like “Mue n°9, Nymphose” may be inhabited by something more like a spirit or an otherworldly deity than a physical person.

      “Présence, Amnios” (2025) ropes and thread, with copper and brass gilded with fine gold 110 1/4 x 43 1/4 x 27 1/2 inches

      Vicerial has recently introduced metals like copper and gold into bodily cavities in her works, emphasizing feminine power and internal energy, which the gallery describes as “objects-as-offerings.” For the artist, these works center around the nature of metamorphosis, both in the process of translating a single length of rope into a fully-formed sculpture and in the biological and emotional ways that women transform over time.

      Like her Armors, the figures in Nymphose possess individual strength that heightens when gathered together. Vicerial employs words like “Gardienne” in her titles, French for “guardian,” to imply protection. “Mue” translates to “molt,” like the way an animal might shed its feathers or skin to make room for new growth.

      Delicate and soft, Vicerial’s figures are simultaneously tall, elegant, timeless sages. The artist positions their vulnerabilities as strengths, tapping into the societal taboo of women aging and the inevitable cycle of life.

      Nymphose continues in Paris through July 19. Explore more on Vicerial’s website and Instagram.

      “Nymphoses” (2023-2025), ropes and thread, 76 3/4 x 33 1/2 x 28 1/4 inches

      “Mue n°9, Nymphose” (2024-2025) rope, thread, and copper and brass gilded with fine gold, 74 3/4 x 32 1/4 x 29 1/4 inches

      “Trâmes, Ex voto” (2020-2024), rope, thread, and metal, 19 3/4 x 13 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches

      “Gardienne n°4, Nymphose” (2025), bronze, rope, and thread, 70 3/4 x 21 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches

      “Persephone n°3” (2025), bronze, rope, and thread, 17 3/4 x 14 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches

      Detail of “Présence, Amnios”

      “Sex voto orné n°9” (2024), rope and wire with handworked copper and brass prints, gilded with fine gold

      “Mue n°10, Nymphose” (2024-2025), rope and thread, 68 1/2 x 39 1/4 x 39 1/4 inches

      “Sex voto orné n°13” (2024), rope and wire with handworked copper and brass prints, gilded with fine gold

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      Homewares and Laundry Take on Lives of Their Own in Tobias Izsó’s Mixed-Media Sculptures

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      “#1” (2023) from the series ‘off the cuff,’ textile, foam, horsehair, walnut, lime, oil willow, rattan, and brass, 80 x 70 x 5 centimeters. All photos by Simon Veres. Images courtesy of the artist and Christine König Galerie, shared with permission

      Homewares and Laundry Take on Lives of Their Own in Tobias Izsó’s Mixed-Media Sculptures

      May 28, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Shoelaces, zippers, chairs, and other domestic items adopt unexpected personalities in the uncanny sculptures of Tobias Izsó. Incorporating a wide range of materials, from various woods and paper to leather and textiles, the artist investigates the emotional terrain of private spaces. Izsó depicts sweaters, shoelaces, shirt cuffs, and piles of laundry merging with their surroundings or seemingly possessing minds of their own.

      Christine König Galerie, which represents the artist, exhibited Izsó’s series off the cuff last year in its project space, KOENIG2. The works explore relationships between home, self, and the emotional influence of stuff. Izsó’s work will be on view at Kunstverein Dresden in October, and you can find more on the artist’s Instagram.

      “#8” (2024) from the series ‘off the cuff,’ oak, paperclip, and paper, 15 x 19 x 14 centimeters

      “#6” (2023) from the series ‘off the cuff,’ webbing, leather, stainless steel, bentwood, oak carpet, textile, rattan, veneer, and brass, 170 x 47 x 35 centimeters

      “#3” (2024) from ‘off the cuff,’ beech, walnut, cherry, oak, and elm, 116 x 45 x 43 centimeters

      “#2” (2023), from the series ‘off the cuff,’ rattan, beech, Afrik, walnut, raffia walnut, and raffia, 82 x 60 x 12 centimeters

      “#5” (2024) from the series ‘off the cuff,’ cherry wood, pine wood, leather, and textile, 108 x 30 x 855 centimeters

      “#4” (2024) from the series ‘off the cuff,’ cherry wood and wall anchor, 99 x 42 x 15 centimeters

      Installation view of ‘Off the Cuff’ at KOENIG2 by_robbygreif

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      An Exhibition Celebrates the Self-Taught Immigrant Artists Shaping Chicago

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      Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz, , born Querétaro
      Mexico, 1975, “In the name of progress,” (2017), mixed media, 69 5/8 x 26 x 24 inches. Photo by Photo by Lisa Lindvay
      . All images courtesy of Intuit Art Museum, shared with permission

      An Exhibition Celebrates the Self-Taught Immigrant Artists Shaping Chicago

      May 23, 2025

      ArtSocial Issues

      Grace Ebert

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      Built on the traditional homeland of the Sauk, Fox, and Potawatomi peoples, Chicago is a city of immigrants. Just 13 years after the city was incorporated in 1837, more than half of its residents were born overseas, having flocked to the region from across Europe and Asia alongside tens of thousands of others. Today, Chicago is home to 1.7 million immigrants, totaling 18 percent of the population.

      The inaugural exhibition at the newly renovated Intuit Art Museum celebrates this history by bringing together 22 artists with ties to the city. Comprised of 75 works across mediums, Catalyst: Im/migration and Self-Taught Art in Chicago highlights those who worked in the Midwest and established their practice outside the traditional art world models.

      Carlos Barberena, born Granada, Nicaragua, 1972, “Exodus” (2019), linocut on HW Rives paper, edition of 25, 24 x 19 inches

      Intuit is a longstanding champion of self-taught artists. Established in 1991, the museum has recognized the incredible creative contributions of those operating outside the mainstream due to economic, societal, or geographic reasons.

      One such artist is Henry Darger, who worked as a hospital custodian by day and produced an enormous collection of drawings, watercolor paintings, and cut paper works only discovered after his death. While Darger’s works now sell for prices in the high six figures, his story is unique. Historically, self-taught artists don’t often attain the critical or financial recognition of their traditionally trained peers.

      Catalyst comes at a particularly relevant moment in the U.S., as immigrants are under increasing threat. Spotlighting works with a wide array of topics and approaches, the exhibition creates a sort of contemporary tapestry of those shaping Chicago’s cultural landscape since the mid-20th century. The show intends to highlight “artists deserving of greater attention, while posing questions about access to the art world and how art comes to be defined and valued,” a statement says.

      Included are four impeccably detailed paintings by Drossos P. Skyllas (1912-1973), an Ottoman-born artist known for his enchanting hyperrealistic portraits. Charles Barbarena works with a similar devotion to precise mark-making in his portraiture. The Nicaraguan artist creates linocuts that frame instances of trauma and adversity with elaborate floral motifs, his depictions of people continually harnessing compassion and resistance.

      Drossos P. Skyllas, born Kalymnos, Ottoman Empire (now Greece), 1912-1976, “Greek Bishop” (c. 1967), oil on canvas, 65 x 41 1/2 inches

      Found object and mixed-media sculpture features prominently, too. The soaring miniature cathedral by Charles Warner, for example, interprets the sacred spaces of his childhood in Prussia through hand-carved wood and pastel paint. There’s also the figurative assemblage of Alfonso “Piloto” Nieves Ruiz, who sculpts a rendition of the Statue of Liberty. With a torso of unidentifiable hands caked in soil and detritus at her feet, Piloto’s “In the name of progress” complicates the symbol of freedom.

      Catalyst is on view through January 11, 2026.

      Charles Warner, born Prussia (now Poland), 1884-1964, “Cathedral III” (c. 1955) mixed media, 48 1/16 x 16 1/8 x 20 7/8 inches. Photo by Mark Widhalm

      Charles Warner, born Prussia (now Poland), 1884-1964, “Cathedral III” (c. 1955) mixed media, 48 1/16 x 16 1/8 x 20 7/8 inches. Photo by Mark Widhalm

      Photo by Lisa and Nick Albertson

      María Enríquez de Allen, American, born Allende, Mexico, 1907-1999, “Untitled (New life goat skull)” (1997), mixed media, 8 ¾ x 7 x 10 ½ inches. Photo by Lisa Lindvay

      Marion Perkins, American, born Marche, Arkansas, 1908-1961, “Untitled (Wire head)” (c. 1955), steel wire, 19 x 12 x 13 inches. Photo by Lisa Lindvay

      Bronislaw “Bruno” Sowa, American, born Lubomierz (Poland), 1915-1995, “Untitled” (1994), oil on board in carved pyrography frame with glass jewels, 33 x 24 x 1 1/4 inches. Photo by Lisa Lindvay

      Photo by Lisa and Nick Albertson

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      Descend into ICA SF’s New Space for Masako Miki’s Otherworldly ‘Midnight March’

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      Installation view of ‘Midnight March’ at ICA SF. Foreground: “Possessed Ancient Monolith Ghost” (2023), wool on XPS foam and walnut wood, 46 x 40 x 32 inches. Photo by Nicholas Lea Bruno. All images courtesy of the artist, ICA SF, and Jessica Silverman Gallery, shared with permission

      Descend into ICA SF’s New Space for Masako Miki’s Otherworldly ‘Midnight March’

      May 20, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Huddled together like birds of a feather or standing resolutely on their own, Masako Miki’s vibrant, playful sculptures come to life at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco. Whether standing on spindly legs, seated on the ground, or suspended from the ceiling, there is a sense of movement and energy in the room, as if each characterful object could walk or roll away at the slightest provocation.

      Miki’s solo exhibition Midnight March is now open at ICA SF’s new exhibition space, The Cube, which activates a former bank building as a site for non-traditional exhibition presentations. The Japanese artist sets her mixed-media pieces, which incorporate materials like wool, bronze, wood, ink, and watercolor, into a darkened, starry interior in which each vibrant, cartoonish individual appears to glow.

      “Umbrella’s Whispers” (2025), wool on XPS foam, walnut wood, 48 1/2 x 14 x 14 inches. Photo by Nicholas Lea Bruno

      Largely abstract in their nebulous forms, felted textures, and colorful patterns, Miki’s sculptures often hint at a life force inside. A single eye peers from a blue shape in “Enchanting Pine Tree Reaching Clouds” or human-like legs extend to the floor in “Umbrella’s Whispers.” We begin to realize that we’re being observed as much as we are observing.

      “Midnight March helps us understand deeper aspects of Miki’s ‘othered’ figures and recognize difference as a positive force, even as we are unsettled by it,” says an exhibition statement.

      The indigo sky throughout the exhibition complements Miki’s two-dimensional works, which she calls Night Parades, welcoming visitors into an experiential context. The artist says, “I hope that my works generate the kind of curiosity and empathy that enables us to come together.”

      Midnight March continues through December 7 in San Francisco, and you can explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      “Midnight March (Blue and Red Violet)” (2025), watercolor on paper, 44 5/8 x 63 1/2 x 2 inches. Photo by Phillip Maisel

      Foreground: “Watcher with Continuous Eyes” (2018), wool on XPS foam, 18 x 56 x 16 inches. Photo by Nicholas Lea Bruno

      “Enchanted Pine Tree Reaching Clouds” (2024), wool on XPS foam and walnut wood, 32 x 23 x 15 1/2 inches. Photo by Phillip Maisel

      “Fox Delivering Messages” (2025), patinated bronze, 15 x 11 1/2 x 5 inches. Edition of 4 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Photo by Nicholas Lea Bruno

      “Ancient Tree Witness” (2023), wool on XPS foam and walnut wood, 76 x 48 x 42 inches. Photo by Steve Ferrera

      “Awa-dancing Cat Leading the Crowds” (2025), patinated bronze, 15 1/2 x 13 x 7 inches. Edition of 4 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Photo by Nicholas Lea Bruno

      “Midnight March (Blue and Deep Gray)” (2025), watercolor on paper, 44 5/8 x 63 1/2 x 2 inches. Photo by Phillip Maisel

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      Floral Quilted Portraits by Maria A. Guzmán Capron Cultivate Care and Love

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      Detail of “Otra Vez.” All images courtesy of Lyles & King, shared with permission

      Floral Quilted Portraits by Maria A. Guzmán Capron Cultivate Care and Love

      May 14, 2025

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      For thousands of years, flowers have been a rich source of symbolism. Dating back to the Ottomans, floriology, or the language of flowers, blossomed in the Victorian era when a bouquet functioned as a nonverbal code. The delicate sweetpea, for example, might have been given as a thank you to a particularly generous host, while buttercups would tell the recipient that the sender thought them childish and immature.

      Maria A. Guzmán Capron (previously) references the timeless expressions of flowers for Solo Pienso en Volver a Verte, which opens this week at Lyles & King. Translating to “I only think about seeing you again,” the solo exhibition comprises the artist’s signature textile portraits of opulently patterned fabrics in a layered patchwork. Soft and plump with batting, the quilted characters are each unique, although Capron sometimes uses the same secondhand material on several pieces.

      “Déjame Llevarte”

      Encircled in hand-dyed fabrics, the figures in this body of work are often doubled or conjoined, as in the embracing women of “Otra Vez” or the two-faced subject of “Echa de Pedacitos.” Love, warmth, and protection feature prominently, as hands grasp for one another or emerge as a three-dimensional gesture. Capron envisions these layered, hybrid forms as a way to visualize the various identities, experiences, and memories within all of us.

      The artist also stitches and screenprints a wide array of flowers on faces, garments, and throughout the lush surroundings. Sometimes abstract and often indeterminate, the blooms share stories and messages of desire that might be unspeakable or better communicated through a symbol of affection. Tending to love in all of its forms is the thread that runs through each work, as Capron welcomes us into a world in which compassion and care are the most beautiful gifts.

      Solo Pienso en Volver a Verte runs through June 21 in New York. Find more from Capron on Instagram.

      “Otra Vez”

      “Echa de Pedacitos”

      “Para Que Me Mires”

      “Te Dejé Quererme”

      Detail of “Y Comencé”

      “También Allí”

      “Algo Escondido”

      Detail of “Otra Vez”

      “Y Comencé”

      Detail of “Te Dejé Quererme”

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      Paola Grizi Adds New Meaning to ‘Literary Figures’ in Emotive Bronze Sculptures

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      “Another Place,” Casart Edition, bronze, 32 x 30 x 35 centimeters

      Paola Grizi Adds New Meaning to ‘Literary Figures’ in Emotive Bronze Sculptures

      May 14, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      In the emotional bronze and terracotta sculptures of Paola Grizi (previously), faces and hands merge with pages of books and manuscripts. Handwriting slides off the leaves onto skin and reliefs of eyes, noses, and mouths peer outward like knowledge and stories personified. Many of her works are scaled to sit on interior surfaces, while others, like “Inner Motion” or “Looking Ahead” take on monumental proportions.

      Grizi currently has work permanently on view at Marciano Contemporary in Paris, Bel Air Fine Art in Luxembourg, and Gallery Van Dun in Oisterwijk, The Netherlands. This summer, pieces will also be included in a presentation at Gallery Maner in Port-Aven, France. See more on the artist’s website.

      “Looking Ahead,” Casart Edition, bronze, 120 x 110 x 20 centimeters

      “Background,” Casart Edition, bronze, 32 x 12 x 15 centimeters

      “Inner Motion,” Casart Edition, bronze

      “Kiss,” Casart Edition, bronze, 35 x 37 x 20 centimeters

      “Boundless,” terracotta

      “Composition,” Casart Edition, bronze, 30 x 35 x 25 centimeters

      “Multiple Lectures,” Casart Edition, bronze, 35 x 30 x 20 centimeters

      Work in progress in the artist’s outdoor studio

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      ‘Level Up’ by GAFFA Transports Us to an Uncanny Parking Garage

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      Installation view of ‘Level Up.’ Photos by Ladina Bischof. All images courtesy of GAFFA and Kunsthalle Arbon, shared with permission

      ‘Level Up’ by GAFFA Transports Us to an Uncanny Parking Garage

      May 12, 2025

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      When you think of an orange safety cone, you might imagine rows of the small reflective objects placed around temporarily parked vehicles or, say, next to potholes. But a stroll through GAFFA’s recent exhibition, Level Up at Kunsthalle Arbon, and the everyday sight took the form of an unmissably imposing, monumental structure.

      GAFFA is a collective founded nine years ago by Wanja Harb, Linus Lutz, Dario Forlin, and Lucian Kunz. Through a signature blend of humor, irony, and an interdisciplinary approach involving zines, collages, photography, sculpture, and installation, the group challenges our perceptions of physical space, history, and society.

      In their sometimes absurd installations, GAFFA often brings the outdoors in, like importing a beach chair and umbrella into a concrete room or constructing an enormous brown slug that slid across a gallery floor. In Level Up, traffic serves as the primary focus—both its symbols and the fine line between regulation and chaos.

      GAFFA transformed the Swiss art gallery into a parking garage containing an extra-long stretch limo, an entry ticket, orange cone, and double-arrow directional sign. We don’t know to whom the car belongs or where they are.

      Viewers are transported into a kind of Alice in Wonderland experience where the scale of everything feels befuddling and incongruent. The car, though life-size, is made of cardboard, and the yellow sign is an oil painting.

      “Underground garages and parking garages are places we usually only notice in passing,” the gallery says in a statement. “They are purpose-built ‘non-places’ to which hardly anyone pays attention, yet they have their own aesthetics: the strict geometry of the parking spaces, the rhythmic movement of the barriers, the seemingly random arrangement of the holes on a parking ticket.”

      Anyone who has driven into a large garage knows the anxieties of a gate not opening when it’s supposed to or the ticket machine not working. Within the large yet controlled space of the Kunsthalle Arbon, Level Up begged the question: how does one get out of here? Explore more on the collective’s website.

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