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      Assembled Sculptures by Artist Willie Cole Cluster High Heels into Expressive Masks

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      Art

      #found objects
      #masks
      #sculpture
      #shoes

      May 5, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Street Dragon I” (2018), shoes, wire, and screws on a metal stand, 64.5 x 16 x 15.5 inches. Photo by Joerg Lohse. All images © Willie Cole, courtesy of Alexander and Bonin, New York
      New Jersey-based artist Willie Cole juxtaposes readymade footwear and African tradition in his series of sculptural masks. The figurative assemblages stack women’s heels into clusters that are expressive and distinctly unique, an effect Cole derives from the shoes’ material, color, and pattern rather than a preconceived plan or sketch. Depicting exaggerated toothy grins, pointed brows, and outstretched tongues, the sculptures span more than a decade of the artist’s career and influence a new collaboration with Comme des Garçons that’s comprised of headpieces made with black pumps.
      Each piece is layered with cultural and societal markers, including those that comment on mass consumerism, fashion trends, and notions of femininity. This context is situated in time and place, which Cole describes as “a subtle catalyst for perception. I have discovered that high heels purchased in New York are very different than high heels purchased in Georgia,” he says. Cole explains:
      I guess you could call the high heel both an anxious object and a readymade aid. ‘Anxious’ because as a symbol, it is fully loaded with history and a story all its own even as just a shoe. ‘Readymade aid’ because that history adds so much to your interpretation and/or reaction to these pieces. As for fashion, these pieces speak about the abundance of discarded high heels in the world as well as the various styles and trends.
      The artist is involved in a variety of projects at the moment, including a commission for Kansas City International Airport that’s an homage to Charlie Parker and a series of sculptures made with 75 acoustic Yamaha guitars that’ll raise money for music education. His work is currently on view at Alexander and Bonin in New York City and Beta Pictoris Gallery in Birmingham. This summer, he’s participating in a show at Hauser and Wirth and is involved in an installation celebrating a former Black neighborhood that’s opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this fall. See more from his expansive body of work that largely explores Black identities on his site and Instagram.

      “Sole Brother 1” (2007), shoes, wire, washers, and screws, 18 x 18 x 19 inches. Photo by Jason Mandella
      “Ashley Bickerton” (2016), shoes, wire, and screws on a metal stand, 63.5 x 16 x 15.5 inches. Photo by Joerg Lohse
      “Street Dragon II” (2018), shoes, wire, and screws, 19.5 x 15.5 x 10.25 inches. Photo by Joerg Lohse
      “Shine” (2007), shoes, wire, washers, screws, and shelf 16 x 15 x 16 inches. Photo by Jason Mandella
      “Fly Girl” (2016), shoes, wire, and screws on a metal stand, 65.5 x 15.5 x 15.5 inches. Photo by Joerg Lohse
      “Sole Brother 2” (2007), shoes, wire, washers, and screws, 19.5 x 16.75 x 18 inches. Photo by Jason Mandella

      #found objects
      #masks
      #sculpture
      #shoes

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      in Street Art

      D*FACE “Death and Glory” Limited Edition Sculpture – Available May 6th

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      Atelier Kismet collaborated with D*Face (Dean Stockton), one of UK’s most prolific Urban Contemporary artists. Entitled, Death & Glory, this collaborative piece represents the third iteration of the original D*Face artwork under the same title. Now released in miniature, the piece features a hidden incense burner chamber inside the ceramic model, bringing the sculpture to life as it smokes and fumes with the incense of choice.The sculpture represents a significant landmark in D*Face’s career as it was the opening statement to his first solo show Death & Glory, StolenSpace Gallery, London (2006). Featuring a police car smashed under the weight of the iconic D*Dog, the work reflects on the recklessness of the police force actions in law enforcement and is a statement of the artist’s reaction against such conduct.“Death and Glory” sculpture is an edition of 75 with measurements as the following:D*DogCeramic with Platinum Coating19 cm x 11 cm x 12.5 cmPolice CarGlazed and Hand Decorated Ceramic24 cm x 10 cm; height: 7.5 cmBox28.6 cm x 27.6 cm; height: 21.2 cmDean Stockton, also known as D*Face, is one of UK’s most prolific Urban Contemporary artists. Taking the public streets as his canvas, he blends art, graffiti and design to create murals that at the time, preceded Urban Art’s emergence as it is known today. The artist describes his work, often characterised by vibrant hues and sharp lines, as ‘aPOPcalyptic’. D*Face seeks to pick up from where the masters of 1980’s American Pop Art left off by subverting everyday images and icons, criticising the consumer dominated world and encouraging the viewer to carefully consider what otherwise might be taken for granted.Check out below for more images of “Death and Glory”.The sculpture will be available on May 6th, Thursday @ 5PM UK Time at Atelier Kismet. More

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      in Art

      Download and 3D-Print 18,000 Artifacts from Art History through Scan the World

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      Art
      Design
      History

      #3d printing
      #art history
      #open source
      #sculpture

      April 28, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Scan the World might be one of the only institutions where visitors are encouraged to handle the most-valued sculptures and artifacts from art history. The open-source museum hosts an impressive archive of 18,000 digital scans—the eclectic collection spans artworks like the “Bust of Nefertiti,” the “Fourth Gate of Vaubam Fortress,” and Michaelangelo’s “David” in addition to other items like chimpanzee skulls—that are available for download and 3D printing in a matter of hours.
      Searchable by collection, artist, and location, Scan the World recently teamed up with Google Arts and Culture, which partners with more than 2,000 institutions, to add thousands of additional pieces to the platform. Each page shares information about an artifact’s history and location, in addition to technical details like dimensions, complexity, and time to print—scroll down on to view images of finished pieces uploaded by the community, too. While much of the collection focuses on Western art, it’s currently bolstering two sections that explore works from India and China.
      Scan the World is part of My Mini Factory, which is the largest platform for 3D-printed objects. If you’re new to the process, check out the site’s wide range of tutorials, including tips for beginners,  how to scan with your phone, and techniques for using drones to capture hard-to-reach works. (via Open Culture)

      Left: “Mars and Venus.” Right: “Marble Head from a Herm“

      #3d printing
      #art history
      #open source
      #sculpture

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      in Art

      Lustrous Seas of Layered Glass Are Sliced into Cross-Sections in Ben Young’s Sculptures

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      Art

      #glass
      #ocean
      #sculpture
      #water

      April 21, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Solitary Catch Awaits,” laminated clear float glass with cast concrete, bronze, and stainless steel frame, 300 x 300 x 180 millimeters. All images © Ben Young
      Calm bodies of hand-cut glass pool atop jagged concrete in Ben Young’s aquatic sculptures. The New Zealand-based artist (previously) is known for his marine landscapes that position miniature figures in vast expanses of the translucent material, creating a contemplative environment that juxtaposes a minuscule representation of humanity alongside the immensity of the oceans and other bodies of water. Each piece similarly contrasts the organic topography with the perfect right angles that provide the cubic shape and revealing cross-sections.
      A few of Young’s sculptures are currently available at Black Door and Red Sea galleries, and you can find prints in his shop. Explore a larger collection of his works on Behance and Instagram.

      “Sea of Separation,” laminated float glass, cast concrete, bronze, and stainless steel stand, 600 x 350 x 170 millimeters
      “Sea of Separation,” laminated float glass, cast concrete, bronze, and stainless steel stand, 600 x 350 x 170 millimeters
      “Still Water”
      “Diverge”
      “Diverge”
      “Daydream”
      Detail of “Daydream”
      “Weathering the Storm”
      “The Divide,” laminated float glass and cast concrete, 930 x 375 x 165 millimeters

      #glass
      #ocean
      #sculpture
      #water

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      in Art

      Elaborately Constructed LEGO Universes by Artist Ekow Nimako Envision an Afrofuturistic World

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      Art

      #afrofuturism
      #installation
      #Lego
      #masks
      #sculpture

      April 20, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Detail of “Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE” (2019). Photos by Samuel Engelking. All images © Ekow Nimako, shared with permission.
      Hundreds of thousands of sleek, black LEGO structure the utopic universes by Toronto-based artist Ekow Nimako. Ranging from life-sized figurative sculptures with an eccentric twist to sprawling landscapes mimicking dense metropolises, Nimako’s artworks are rooted in the visionary realm of Afrofuturism, which “explores the intersection of technology and race to visualize a powerful future for the African diaspora” through a hearty dose of hope and strength.
      His ongoing series, Building Black, is an expansive collection that encompasses fantastical masks inspired by West African tradition and mythological characters that draw on folklore and proverbs. Another facet includes a broad, architectural sculpture that expands 30-square-feet. The 2019 work is titled “Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE,” a reference to the capital city of the ancient Ghana Empire that’s thought to have contained a mosque, a central square, and various circuit walls.

      Left: “Kadeesa (Griffyx Cub)” (2020). Right: “Flower Girl” (2019)
      Running through each of these artworks is a fluid understanding of time and space that blurs the distinction between generations, locations, and histories in order to imagine a new reality. “We are all living proof of our ancestors, all their joy, love, knowledge, and pain. They live in our DNA,” the Ghanaian-Canadian artist says. “Aesthetically, I enjoy taking elements from bygone eras and creating futuristic landscapes, particularly of African utopias to imagine a liberated existence for us all.”
      That blurred temporality that foregrounds his sculptures and installations parallels his own trajectory, as well. “My art practice developed when I was four years old, as I constantly told myself I want to do this (play with LEGO) forever, and sometimes it feels as though my future self communicated with my past self, astrally perhaps, to ensure this very specific destiny manifested,” he says, noting that the plastic blocks have remained a fixture in both his personal and professional life since becoming a father.

      “Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE” (2019)
      Today, Nimako works solely with black LEGO, a choice designed to distinguish his practice from the iconic brand. “My distinction was that I wanted to make artwork for which the medium was secondary,” he shares. “The form and content, the embodiment of life, always comes first with my work.”
      In 2017, Nimako published a guide to LEGO animals, Beasts from Bricks, and plans to continue teaching with a tutorial for building afrofuturistic worlds that’ll launch on his site this June. He’ll be included in a  group exhibition at Onsite Gallery starting in June 2022 and also has a solo show slated for October of next year at Dunlop Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. In the meantime, explore a larger collection of his elaborately designed universes on Instagram. (via Hyperallergic)

      Detail of “Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE” (2019)
      Detail of “Kumbi Saleh 3020 CE” (2019)
      “Simis” (2019)
      “Esun” (2020)
      Nimako working on a piece. Photo by Janick Laurent

      #afrofuturism
      #installation
      #Lego
      #masks
      #sculpture

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      Everyday Objects Are Sliced and Re-Assembled into Distorted Sculptures by Fabian Oefner

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      Art

      #cameras
      #electronics
      #sculpture
      #shoes

      April 16, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Heisenberg Object V – Cortez” (2021), leather, foam, and resin, 30 x 18 x 15 centimeters. All images © Fabian Oefner, shared with permission
      In Heisenberg Objects, Fabian Oefner (previously) translates quantum mechanic’s uncertainty principle into a sculptural series of segmented objects. The Connecticut-based artist uses resin to solidify the everyday items, which include sneakers, a Leica M6, a tape recorder, a Seiko clock, and flight recorder, before slicing them into countless individual pieces. He then aggregates those fragmented parts into dissected sculptures that resemble the original object through a distorted view of the inner and outer mechanisms.
      Drawing its name from German physicist Werner Heisenberg, the series is rooted in the basics of the uncertainty principle, which states that no two particles can be measured accurately at exactly the same time. “You can either determine one parameter and ignore the other or vice versa, but you can never know everything at once,” the artist writes about Heisenberg’s idea. The two opposing views—i.e. the inner and outer layers of the common items—converge in Oefner’s sculptures and visualize the principle through skewed perceptions. “As an observer, you are never able to observe the object as a whole and its inner workings simultaneously. The more accurately we see one view, the less clearly we see the other,” he says.
      Check out Oefner’s Instagram for more views of the re-interpreted objects, along with videos documenting the slicing process.

      “Heisenberg Object III – Leica M6” (2021), aluminum, glass, and resin, 20 x 15 x 5 centimeters
      “Heisenberg Object I – Seiko Clock” (2021), plastics, metal, and resin, 20 x 15 x 10 centimeters
      “Heisenberg Object II – Tape Recorder” (2021), plastics, metal, resin, 30 x 20 x 8 centimeters
      “Heisenberg Object VI – Cortez” (2021), leather, foam, and resin, 30 x 18 x 15 centimeters
      “Heisenberg Object VI – Cortez” (2021), leather, foam, and resin, 30 x 18 x 15 centimeters
      Detail of “Heisenberg Object IV – Flight Recorder” (2021), plastics, metal, resin, 50 x 50 x 40 centimeters
      “Heisenberg Object IV – Flight Recorder” (2021), plastics, metal, resin, 50 x 50 x 40 centimeters

      #cameras
      #electronics
      #sculpture
      #shoes

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      Innumerable Spines Cover Amorphous Sea Creatures Sculpted in Clay by Marguerita Hagan

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      Art

      #ceramics
      #clay
      #coral
      #sculpture
      #sea creatures

      April 15, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Blushing,” hand-built ceramic, 3.25 x 5 x 2.5 inches. All images © Marguerita Hagan, by Richard W. Gretzinger, shared with permission
      Prior to sculpting the prickly lifeforms that comprise her Marine Abstracts series, Marguerita Hagan plunged into the waters surrounding the Cayman Islands to get a glimpse of the coral and sponges inhabiting the region. “My research is important to my work, whether from seeing firsthand like diving, which manifested the sponge and coral-inspired Marine Abstracts, or visiting labs and working with my scientist friends,” the Philadelphia-based artist says. “I am passionate about learning, and I immerse myself into the life of each piece/species.”
      Mimicking the porous bodies of the aquatic creatures, the resulting works are amorphous in shape and hand-built in sweeping gestures from low-fire clay. Hagan subjects the ceramic forms to anywhere between three and eight rounds of firing in the kiln before they’re airbrushed with pastel glazes. Pocked with holes and covered in tiny bristles arranged with meticulous precision, each piece can take months to complete.

      “Swept,” hand-built ceramic, 6.5 x 8.25 x 6.5 inches
      When presented in a gallery space, Hagan contextualizes many of her works by pairing them with animated projections, creating holistic installations that situate individual sculptures within a larger ecosystem. It’s a way to generate conversation about interdependence and the need to protect these fragile forms, the artist says, explaining the concept further:
      Microscopic marine organisms form the basis of all life on our planet and connect in exquisite systems or colonies. These one-cell plankton gems, our primary producers provide over 50% of the oxygen for the planet with light from the sun. Rich diversity and reciprocal sharing power thriving communities and environments. This light-giving flow has enabled all life to thrive for eons…We are in a time of epic shifts and are responsible for the changes needed now. The work intends to uplift spirits, awareness, renewable action and timely sustainable investments for all life.
      You can see many of the abstracted pieces shown here, alongside dozens of Hagan’s sculptures, as part of Biospheres, which is on view both in-person and virtually at HOT•BED in Philadelphia through May 8. For a larger collection of the artist’s works, check out her site and Instagram.

      “Swept,” hand-built ceramic, 6.5 x 8.25 x 6.5 inches
      Detail of “Aquamarine Whisper,” hand-built ceramic, 6.75 x 4 x 5 inches
      “Aquamarine Whisper,” hand-built ceramic, 6.75 x 4 x 5 inches
      “Cayman Crush,” hand-built ceramic, 6.5 x 8.25 x 6.5 inches
      “Cayman Crush,” hand-built ceramic, 6.5 x 8.25 x 6.5 inches
      “Blushing,” hand-built ceramic, 3.25 x 5 x 2.5 inches

      #ceramics
      #clay
      #coral
      #sculpture
      #sea creatures

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      Figurative Wool Sculptures by Nastassja Swift Explore the Memories and Narratives of Blackness

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      Art

      #felt
      #fiber art
      #sculpture
      #self-portrait
      #wool

      April 13, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Detail of “Passage, when momma lets my braids flow down my back,” wool, synthetic braiding hair, wood, plaster, resin, satin. Collaborators are Kiki Jewell, Nyja Amos, Grace Jewell. Photo by David Hunter-Hale. All images © Nastassja Swift, shared with permission
      In her salient text, In The Wake: On Blackness and Being, scholar Christina Sharpe delves into the multiple definitions of “wake,” which span from “the path behind a ship, keeping watch with the dead, (to) coming to consciousness.” “In the wake,” Sharpe writes, “the past that is not past reappears, always, to rupture the present.” Largely focused on conversations around anti-Blackness and continued violence, the book is rooted in the afterlife of slavery and what sentiments, practices, and memories linger into the current moment, questions that similarly ground the work of artist Nastassja Swift.
      Through fiber-based figures often arranged in larger gatherings, Swift explores various narratives tied to Blackness, particularly those that relate to water and ancestral presences. “I’m interested in taking those things as starting points and imaging a space or happening that involves my sculpture and allows me to think through a hypothetical rooted in that memory or history,” the Virginia-based artist says. She derives these stories from texts like Sharpe’s, discussions with friends, and in one instance, a conversation with an older Black woman at a Toni Morrison film screening.

      “Freedom Whispers in the Sky,” wool and wire
      While there are multiple narrative threads in each of her pieces, Swift doesn’t strive to disclose each one, preferring explicit gaps in the connections. “I love knowing that there’s more to what’s being made and imagining other characters or continued happenings around what’s being made,” she says. “That’s not something I’m attempting to convey, rather information that I’m okay not sharing.”
      Many of the faces evoke imagined subjects, not relatives Swift has met or seen in photographs, but rather somewhat of “an ancestral presence that allows my hands to make the face in any particular moment without my mind being aware of it.” She always begins with the supple shape of the face and then sculpts the facial details and hair from dyed wool and felt, a process that’s intimate and that’s evolved with two more recent works.

      “Your Banks are Red Honey Where the Moon Wanders-Self Portrait,” wool, cocoa butter soap, black sand, resin on wood. Photo by David Hunter-Hale
      “With ‘Passage, when momma lets my braids flow down my back’ (2021) and ‘Your Banks are Red Honey Where the Moon Wanders-Self Portrait’ (2020), everything changed,” Swift says, describing the shift in the process to that of a ritual. The first of these two works, “Passage,” is a bubblegum pink figure sporting a collar marked with smaller heads arranged in a gradient. Long braids descend down the torso and pool on the floor. Second is Swift’s self-portrait, which features a calm face shaped in deep red wool that’s silhouetted by braids and figurative tendrils. Both interpret specific subjects as West African masks and sculptural forms in order to question “what it means to worship someone, and how that word could be reshaped to allow us to honor those around us,” the artist says.
      Swift will have a satellite exhibition titled Canaan: when I read your letter, I feel your voice at the Contemporary Arts Network in Newport News from June 5 to July 3, 2021. Thanks to the Art as Activism Grant from the Black Box Press Foundation, the pieces will then travel for a stay at the Galveston Arts Center. The artist sells some felted dolls and other goods in her shop, and head to Instagram for glimpses into her studio and a larger collection of her sculptures.

      “A Party for Sojourner,” wool, natural dyes, and tulle. Photo by Marlon Turner
      Passage, when momma lets my braids flow down my back,” wool, synthetic braiding hair, wood, plaster, resin, satin. Collaborators are Kiki Jewell, Nyja Amos, Grace Jewell. Photo by David Hunter-Hale
      “Inner City,” indigo-dyed wool and felt fabric. Photo by David Hunter-Hale
      “Concealer,” wool and wire
      Swift working on “Passage, when momma lets my braids flow down my back.” Photo by Nalan Smart

      #felt
      #fiber art
      #sculpture
      #self-portrait
      #wool

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