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      Josh Gluckstein Crafts a Teeming Reef from Recycled Cardboard

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      “Reef.” Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation. All images courtesy of Josh Gluckstein, shared with permission

      Josh Gluckstein Crafts a Teeming Reef from Recycled Cardboard

      September 24, 2024

      Art Nature

      Kate Mothes

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      For the past four years, London-based artist Josh Gluckstein has highlighted the potential of an everyday material—recycled cardboard—to bring animal sculptures to life (previously). In his most recent piece, “Reef,” he expands on individual portraits to create a meticulously detailed two-and-a-half-meter-tall marine habitat teeming with a variety of fish and coral.

      “I fell in love with scuba diving ten years ago and was amazed that there was an entirely new world to discover underwater,” Gluckstein says. “I wanted to bring that experience to life on dry land.”

      Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation

      Gluckstein was invited to participate in Homo Faber 2024 in Venice, which this year traces the theme, “The Journey of Life.” Among the work of more than 400 artisans from around the world, “Reef” is Gluckstein’s most ambitious piece to date, featuring more than 50 different marine species.

      Sea turtles, an octopus, clown fish, and a blue spotted ray are among the creatures that swim around a column of coral. “The piece celebrates the wonder and rich biodiversity of our oceans, while raising awareness for the fragility of—and challenges facing—our marine life,” Gluckstein says.

      Homo Faber 2024 continues through September 30. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

      You might also enjoy Ghost Net Collective’s marine animal sculptures made from the salvaged ocean waste that endangers them.

      Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation

      Photo by Alexandre Vazquez, © Michelangelo Foundation

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    • 163 Shares139 Views

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      OSGEMEOS Unearths Their Fantastic Childhood Universe in Their Largest U.S. Exhibition to Date

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      Installation view of “Untitled (92 Speakers)” (2019), “Gramophone” (2016), and “1983 – THE BOOMBOX” (2017). Photo by Rick Coulby. All images © OSGEMEOS, shared with permission

      OSGEMEOS Unearths Their Fantastic Childhood Universe in Their Largest U.S. Exhibition to Date

      September 20, 2024

      Art

      Grace Ebert

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      As children in São Paulo, twin brothers Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo invented a universe they called Tritrez. The mystical place was home to myriad yellow figures with bulbous heads and lanky bodies and promoted strange, yet friendly, behavior.

      “Yellow has been a very spiritual color for us since we started drawing,” the pair told their gallery, Lehmann Maupin. “When we were drawing at our mother’s house, the sun would come through the windows, and the studio would become yellow. So we always found it mystical, peaceful, and harmonious.” 

      Installation view of OSGEMEOS, “Chuva de verão (Summer Rain)” (2008), “O abduzido (The Abductee)” (2020), “The Garden” (2020), and “The Sunset” (2019). Photo by Rick Coulby

      Operating largely as one with shared dreams and the uncanny ability to finish each others’ thoughts, the brothers work as OSGEMEOS (previously), which translates to “the twins” in Portuguese. Rooted in graffiti and street art, their works will be on view at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden later this month for their largest U.S. exhibition to date.

      Comprising 1,000 paintings, sculptures, photos, and archival objects, OSGEMEOS: Endless Story traces the brothers’ creative evolution, recreating details from their childhood bedrooms and the infrastructure and walls they painted murals on in their youth. Rarely seen sketches and early influences like their mother’s embroideries are on view alongside many pieces never shown outside their native Brazil.

      Hip-hop and breakdancing feature prominently in OSGEMEOS’ work, including in the sprawling installation “Untitled (92 Speakers).” Yellow and brown faces peer out from boxy speakers and congregate together on a pastel pink wall. A symmetric gramophone and boombox painted similarly stand on the gallery floor below and reference the artists’ enduring interest in music and its influence on culture.

      Other works lean further into the sci-fi and supernatural realms. Standing at the center of one gallery is a tall, prismatic sculpture, which depicts one of their signature figures encircled by an alien beam projecting from a flying saucer. Likewise, the 2014 painting “Tritez” unearths the more fantastical details of the imagined realm: a blue patchwork whale cradling buildings on its back flies through the sky, two siren-like characters dance in the moonlight, and a trio of figures clamber on top of one another in colorful bizarre clothing.

      “Tritrez” (2014), spray paint and sequins on wood. Photo by Rick Coulby

      “Tritrez for us is our soul. It’s our, let’s say, parallel world that we believe (lives) inside of us,” they say in a video. “We believe that everybody (has) some kind of Tritrez inside. But sometimes you forget to see and sometimes you are afraid to see.”

      The first monograph of OSGEMEOS’ work written in English accompanies the exhibition, which runs from September 29, 2024, to August 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. There’s much more on the brothers’ Instagram, so head there to dive deeper into their whimsical world.

      Detail of installation view of “Untitled (92 Speakers)” (2019), “Gramophone” (2016), and “1983 – THE BOOMBOX” (2017). Photo by Rick Coulby

      “1980” (2020), mixed media with
      sequins on MDF, 86 1/4 × 125 9/16 × 2 inches

      “Retratos (Portraits)” (2023–2024), mixed media on MDF. Photo by Rick Coulby

      Detail of “Retratos (Portraits)” (2023–2024), mixed media on MDF. Photo by Rick Coulby

      “O dia da festa de break (The
      Breakdancing Party’s Day)” (2016), mixed media on panel, 80 5/16 × 64 9/16× 7 7/8 inches.
      (204 × 164 × 20 cm). Photo by Max Yawney

      Detail of an installation view of ‘OSGEMEOS: Endless Story.’ Photo by Rick Coulby

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    • 88 Shares169 Views

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      David Moreno’s Anthropomorphic Foundations Support Cascading Villages

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      Detail of “Construcción en cabeza—Cabeza en construcción.” All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

      David Moreno’s Anthropomorphic Foundations Support Cascading Villages

      September 19, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      From thin rods of steel, Barcelona-based artist David Moreno (previously) constructs towering houses and cascading villages that reflect the architecture of our lives. He often incorporates anthropomorphic, anatomical elements, suggesting skeletons or beating hearts.

      For example, “Construcción en cabeza—Cabeza en construcción,” which translates to “head construction—head under construction,” a hillside-like foundation takes the form of a face. And “Resumen 2020,” meaning “Summary 2020,” is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, assuming the silhouette of a human skull.

      “Resumen 2020”

      Moreno’s sculptures alternate between rigidity and fluidity as he manipulates the thick wire into solid walls or curving arcs, such as in “La vie en rose.” Balanced carefully on columns of scaffolding, gabled structures cling somewhat precariously to their supports, referencing the sprawling, stacked hillside favelas like those in Rio de Janeiro.

      The artist is currently conceptualizing a new three-meter-wide installation for an architecture firm in Miami, and he has been scaling down his larger sculptures into gold and silver pendant designs. Check out more of Moreno’s work on Behance, and follow updates on Instagram.

      “Los Del Extrarradio”

      “Construcción en cabeza—Cabeza en construcción”

      “El dorado en expansion II”

      “Vanitas”

      “La vie en rose”

      “Conexion de catedral II”

      “Melodía Circular”

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    • 150 Shares169 Views

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      Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail

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      Detail of “Ancient Diorama Ammonite.” All images © Hiné Mizushima, shared with permission

      Hiné Mizushima Felts Whimsical Sea Creatures Adorned with Beads and Crocheted Detail

      September 13, 2024

      Art Craft Nature

      Grace Ebert

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      Nested in one of Hiné Mizushima’s wooden dioramas is an ancient marine menagerie. Vibrant blue felt lines the walls of the plush environment, which houses a pair of ammonites along with tall seagrass and small bits of coral reef.

      From her Vancouver studio, Mizushima stitches whimsical renditions of underwater creatures. Her soft, fiber sculptures take a playful approach to natural life, sometimes perching an octopus atop a human heart or finding a moray eel slithering out of an artery. Often depicted in pastel colors and adorned with beads and crocheted details, the creatures are friendly and even glitzy interpretations of their real-life counterparts.

      The works shown here will be on view in Mizushima’s solo show Creatures and Curiosities on view from September 14 to October 22 at Boris Zakkaten in Tokyo. Find more on Instagram.

      “Ancient Diorama Ammonite”

      “Heart Moray Eel”

      Detail of “Heart Moray Eel”

      “Ancient Diorama Squids”

      Detail of “Ancient Diorama Squids”

      “Heart Ocotpus”

      “Heart Squid”

      Detail of “Heart Squid”

      “Bugs 1”

      “Bugs 2”

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    • 100 Shares119 Views

      in Art

      John Pai Transforms Steel Into Delicate, Airy Sculptures

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      “Shared Destinies” (2014), welded steel, 85.5 x 108 x 85 centimeters. Photos by Geoffrey Quelle. All images © John Pai, courtesy of
      the artist and Gallery Hyundai, shared with permission

      John Pai Transforms Steel Into Delicate, Airy Sculptures

      September 12, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      For more than seventy years, John Pai’s artistic practice has delved into themes ranging from memory and the subconscious to international art forms, East Asian philosophy, and science. Starting in the early 1960s, he began working with steel, investigating both its technical and aesthetic potential through abstract shapes influenced by Constructivism.

      Pai is known for his meticulous and detailed metal sculptures, which weld thin strips in lattices and sheets to create delicate woven textures. A material we typically associate with heavy-duty construction is transformed into intimate works that appear as if they could float on air. Soft curves and gauzy surfaces suggest organic forms or textiles in contrast to industrial applications.

      “Risen, Fallen, Walken” (1987), welded steel, 120 x 109 x 54 centimeters

      Shared Destinies, the artist’s solo exhibition at Gallery Hyundai, presents nearly 40 pieces Pai has made throughout the past seven decades. Comprising welded steel sculptures, drawings, and paintings, the show illuminates the artist’s multidisciplinary approach to material, process, and form.

      In the work “Shared Destinies,” for example—which lends the show its name—layers of delicately welded steel suggest a woven basket. Ethereal pieces like “Invocation” bring to mind the undulating, woven wire sculptures of Ruth Asawa. The visible inner structures mirror the universal layers of the human psyche, time, and the artist’s journey of self-exploration.

      Shared Destinies continues through October 20 in Seoul. See more on the gallery’s website.

      “Involution” (1974), welded steel, 98 x 98 x 97 centimeters

      “Forgotten Rule” (1990), welded steel, 92 x 102.5 x 41.8 centimeters

      “Untitled” (1982), welded steel, 86 x 52 x 58 centimeters

      ‘Heaven and Earth’
      series, 1 to 7 (2024), welded steel, variable dimensions

      “Untitled 1970, Entitled 2021” (1970), welded steel, 92 x 92 x 38.9 centimeters

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    • 100 Shares129 Views

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      John Peralta Explodes Historic Technology into Three-Dimensional Diagrams

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      “HOMMAGE” (2023), L.M. Ericsson “Eiffel Tower” telephone (c. 1890), steel, walnut, mono-filament, and LED lighting, 40 x 40 x 13 inches. All images © John Peralta, shared with permission

      John Peralta Explodes Historic Technology into Three-Dimensional Diagrams

      September 12, 2024

      Art History

      Kate Mothes

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      On individual strings of monofilament, John Peralta (previously) suspends every single component of historic gadgets, from Rollieflex cameras to Singer sewing machines. The Austin-based artist reinterprets iconic technology to create complex, three-dimensional exploded diagrams using real objects.

      Peralta recalls childhood memories of pulling a red wagon around the neighborhood with his brother. They would knock on doors and collect broken radios and tape decks so they could open the items up and explore what made each tick. Also inspired by the mind-boggling, mathematic renderings of Dutch artist M.C. Escher, Peralta spent a lot of time drawing with pencil and charcoal, and art eventually morphed from a hobby to a full-time pursuit.

      Detail of “The Three-eyed Raven” (202), Polliard – Bolex 16 mm film camera (c. 1950), wood, steel, mono-filament, and LED lights, 40 x 40 x 13 inches

      Fascinated by the history, function, and components of 19th- and 20th-century innovations, Peralta dismantles each item piece by piece, then meticulously strings up every part inside illuminated boxes. Elaborate film reels inside a Bolex 16mm camera or the gears and keys of a Hammond Multiplex typewriter are expanded to reveal the mechanisms’ inner workings.

      While he continues to focus primarily on antiques, Peralta is always interested in refining and experimenting with different methods and materials. “New Abnormal,” for instance, incorporates a 1980s boombox, with tiny figures that interact with its wiring or traverse its surfaces.

      In 2020, a Nashville hotel commissioned a large-scale installation of floating musical instruments for its lobby, and the artist is currently in progress on a sculpture using the original guitar that Robby Krieger played on The Doors’ first album. He’s also working on a commissioned antique binnacle, a stand on the deck of a ship where navigational instruments like the compass are placed.

      If you’re in Los Angeles, you can see the artist’s sculptures in a forthcoming exhibition about Pacific Standard Time, opening September 28 at The Loft at Liz’s. Find more on his website, and follow updates on Instagram.

      “New Abnormal” (2021), Sony “boombox” cassette player (c. 1980), aluminum, acrylic, fluorocarbon mono-filament, and steel cable, 48 x 26 x 69 inches

      “Professor Fox’s Fantastic Writing Machine” (2023), Hammond Multiplex typewriter (c. 1913), steel, walnut, mono-filament, and LED lighting, 40 x 40 x 13 inches

      Detail of “Professor Fox’s Fantastic Writing Machine”

      “Rolleiflex” (2023), Rolleiflex medium format camera, walnut, acrylic, aluminum, and fluorocarbon mono-filament, 26.5 x 17.5 x 25 inches

      Detail of “Rolleiflex” (2023)

      “A Stitch in Time” (2023), Singer Portable Sewing Machine (c. 1924), wood, steel, gold leaf, acrylic resin, mono-filament, and LED lighting, 26 x 35 x 15 inches

      “Black Powder” (2020), 1858 New Army Black Powder Revolver (replica), walnut, steel, fluorocarbon mono-filament, and LED lighting, 36 x 38.5 x 13 inches

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    • 125 Shares169 Views

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      Volcanic Ash and Lush Tropics Inspire Brian Rochefort’s Unearthly Ceramics

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      “Beni River” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches. All images © Brian Rochefort, courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles, shared with permission

      Volcanic Ash and Lush Tropics Inspire Brian Rochefort’s Unearthly Ceramics

      September 10, 2024

      Art Craft

      Grace Ebert

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      When Brian Rochefort travels, he’s inclined to visit remote parts of the planet. The depths of the Amazon, the volcanic island cluster of the Galápagos, and the immensely diverse ecosystem of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater have all drawn him in and once back in his Los Angeles studio, inspired the artist’s lushly textured sculptures.

      Rochefort (previously) is known for his gloopy, chunky vessels that appear to ooze and gurgle with vivid color. A new body of work debuting at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles this month continues the artist’s interest in how abstract forms can translate the myriad textures and compositions of the natural world.

      Detail of “Wet Season” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      Staring at the Moon presents Rochefort’s visions of barrier reefs, tropical forests, and volcanic matter into fantastic works. Cloaked in crackled, drippy, and rough chunks of color, each piece emerges through multiple applications of texture followed by as many firings, and sometimes, the glazes remain thicker than the ceramic base.

      “One of the things I try to do is remove the hand. There are no brushstrokes. There are no fingerprints,” he said in a short film about the series. “It’s as if the piece came from outer space… or the depths of the ocean.”

      Staring at the Moon runs from September 14 to November 2. Explore an archive of Rochefort’s work on Instagram.

      “Wet Season” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “The Whale” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Goddess” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Summer” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      Detail of “Goddess” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Belizian Swim” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

      “Spray Ash” (2024), ceramic, glaze, glass fragments, 24 x 22 x 21 inches

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    • 163 Shares99 Views

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      Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’

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      Left: “Collie Pheasant” (2023). Right: “St. Bernard Pheasant” (2023). Both mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 10.5 x 8 x 3.5 inches. All images © Debra Broz, courtesy of Track 16 Gallery, shared with permission

      Debra Broz Merges Humor and Kitsch in a Nod to Our ‘Strange World’

      September 10, 2024

      Art Craft

      Kate Mothes

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      Vintage, mass-produced porcelain knick-knacks take on new life in Debra Broz’s intricate and uncanny hybrids (previously). Collies and St. Bernards with the bodies of pheasants meet rabbits with curiously long appendages and woodland creatures with human arms.

      In her solo exhibition Strange World at Track 16, Broz continues to explore the subversive and absurd through the leitmotif of midcentury kitsch. Whether merging two small sculptures or creating elaborate amalgamations, the artist finds the humor—and just a tinge of unease—in busyness, cuteness, and perplexity.

      “Weight of the World” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 34 x 18 x 18 inches

      Strange World, which incorporates dozens of sculptures and glazed platters, revolves around three maximalist assemblages made of hundreds of individual figurines Broz collected during the past decade. Clusters of adorable animals like big-eyed bunnies, ducks, and cows emerge from bases as if blossoming with energy.

      In a statement for the show, Track 16 describes the pieces as “darkly optimistic, synthesizing the confusion of limitless information.” Chaotic and idiosyncratically beautiful, Broz’s pieces tap into our contemporary social reality, balancing tension and overwhelm with moments of levity and clarity.

      Strange World continues through October 12 in Los Angeles. Find more on Broz’s website and Instagram.

      Detail of “Weight of the World”

      “Slightly Human: Cat & Skunk” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 4 x 5 x 3 inches

      “Slightly Human: Squirrels” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 5.25 x 7.5 x 4 inches

      “Galaxy Brain” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 25 x 22 x 18 inches

      Detail of “Galaxy Brain”

      “Slightly Human: Horse (The Champion)” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 8.5 x 7 x 4 inches

      “White Rabbit No. 33” (2024), mixed media on secondhand ceramics, 6 x 4 x 2 inches

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