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A New Documentary Traces How a Faith Ringgold Mural at Rikers Island Helped Women Break Free

by Aurelia Butler 13 February 2025, 14:10

Detail of “For the Women’s House” (1972). All images from ‘Paint Me a Road Out of Here’

A New Documentary Traces How a Faith Ringgold Mural at Rikers Island Helped Women Break Free

February 13, 2025

ArtFilmHistorySocial Issues

Grace Ebert

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In 1971, Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) received her first public art commission. New York City offered the late artist a $3,000 grant to paint a mural at the Women’s House of Detention on Rikers Island. After going inside and speaking with those incarcerated in the notorious prison, Ringgold decided to base the work around a request from one of the women about what she hoped the piece would depict: “I want to see a road leading out of here.”

In Ringgold’s characteristically bold palette, the resulting mural features more than a dozen figures, many of whom are employed in professions unavailable to women at the time. Vibrant and sliced into eight sections, “For the Women’s House” portrays doctors, bus drivers, basketball players, and the yet-to-be-realized vision of a woman as president. The large-scale work was a tribute to the deferred dreams of those who were locked up and a directive to reimagine the stereotypes put on incarcerated people.

According to ArtNet, the artist continued her relationship with the detained women and returned to the facility each month to provide “courses in subjects ranging from mask-making and theater to career counseling and drug addiction prevention.”

When Rikers Island transitioned to housing men in 1998, though, the Department of Corrections painted over the work, concealing it under a thick layer of white paint.

A new documentary directed by Catherine Gund chronicles Ringgold’s fight to regain control over the mural as it tells a broader story about the injustices of the U.S. justice system. Paint Me a Road Out of Here, released by Aubin Pictures, features conversations with Ringgold before her death last year, along with artist Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, who has been commissioned to create a new work to replace “For the Women’s House.”

The film comes at a time when more artists who were formerly incarcerated are gaining attention as they point out the dehumanization and cruelty at the heart of the prison system. Jesse Krimes, for example, interrogates the material conditions of life inside as he incorporates soap bars, playing cards, newspapers, and bedsheets into his practice. And at a similarly infamous facility, artist Moath al-Alwi sculpts ships from cardboard, dental floss, and threads from his prayer cap while detained at Guantánamo Bay.

“For the Women’s House” (1972)

While the film shares the story of Ringgold’s nearly lost mural—which was relocated in 2022—it also speaks to the power of community and connection through art and making, particularly in places where despair and degradation are rampant. “Art gives us permission to imagine a world beyond what currently exists,” one interviewee in the film says.

Paint Me a Road Out of Here is currently screening at the Film Forum in New York. Keep an eye on Aubin Pictures’ website and Instagram for additional locations.

The artist with the mural

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Timo Fahler’s Stained-Glass Sculptures Question Symbols and Curtailed Freedoms
by Aurelia Butler 5 February 2025, 17:41
“give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door” (2023), chain-link fence, steel, stained glass, lead, and aluminum, 48 x 38 x 6 inches. All images courtesy of the artist and Sebastian Gladstone Gallery, shared with permission
Timo Fahler’s Stained-Glass Sculptures Question Symbols and Curtailed Freedoms
February 5, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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The creation of stained glass can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Rome, but we most often associate it with its popularity in Western Christianity, as in the biblical narratives adorning chapels and cathedrals. For Timo Fahler, this tradition forms the foundation of a multimedia practice influenced by Mesoamerican codice imagery, national symbols, and motifs found in older European churches.
Stained glass is a “storytelling medium in which I get to draw from everything I experience, everything I study, read, believe in, and even distrust,” Fahler tells Colossal. “We are floating in a unique era of questioning reality, the last gasp of the living generation before automation integrates itself via AI, ChatGPT, and digital interface.” He views his practice as depicting this era and even, in a way, immortalizing it.
“topos haliaíetos for the bald eagle; topos chrysaetos for the gold eagle/Mexico” (2023), steel, cast iron, stained glass, lead, tin, and obsidian, 27 x 41 x 2 inches
Fahler first worked with lampworking glass while studying ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute, which sparked an ongoing interest in the medium. Recently, he began incorporating it into what he calls “rebar drawings,” which form the foundation of much of his work. “I was curious about letting the unpredictability of light become a part of the ‘materials’ I work with,” the artist says.
Many of Fahler’s sculptures are framed or supported by heavy-duty metals like rusted steel, iron fences, and gates. Stained glass hovers a few inches from the wall, casting colorful shadows. For his most recent works, Fahler places barriers atop the glass to consider not only the viewer’s relationship to the image but also the implications of people being barred from freedoms and knowledge. “I draw from a lot of different sources—historical, mythological, and fantastical—all of which encompass my ‘heritage,’” the artist says.
In a piece titled after the poem “New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, which is carved in bronze on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal, Fahler uses a gate to frame a detail of Lady Liberty’s arm constructed of tiny glass squares soldered to the facets of a chain-link fence. Historically a potent symbol of welcome, amnesty, and inclusiveness, the statue in this context references how today, new immigrants’ access is more troubled and often blocked.
Serpents, dragons, eagles, and landscapes merge with realistic portraits and references to historical moments and national emblems, like Mexico’s crest featuring a golden eagle on a cactus with a snake in its talons. The image centers on the nation’s flag, representing the resilience, bravery, and spirit of the Mexican people. Echoing his representation of the Statue of Liberty, the icon is barricaded, merging with iron bars.
“I against i” (2024), found fence, steel, stained glass, grisaille, glass, and lead, 53.5 x 53 x 7 inches. Photo by Nick Massey
Fahler is currently working on a solo presentation with Sebastian Gladstone this autumn. He and his family just moved to Amsterdam, where he shares he’s beginning from a “zero-point/clean canvas” in a new studio, and he plans to explore ideas around the complexities of sovereignty, expatriation, and a quickly evolving global society.
“The world is changing so quickly that we cannot collectively understand, let alone keep up with it!” he says. “I’m excited to be working on all of that and look forward to the body of work that depicts it.”
Find more on Fahler’s website and Instagram.
“two-headed serpent” (2023), mirror steel, cast iron, stained glass, copper, and lead, 30 x 45 x 4 inches
“fever dream” (2024), found gate, steal, stained glass, grisaille, and lead, 32 x 84 x 6 inches. Photo by Nick Massey
“twin serpents” (2024), steel, stained glass, lead, and rebar, 70 x 64 x 64 inches. Photo by Nick Massey
“Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099)” (2023), fence, steel, stained glass, and lead, 64 x 59.5 x 3.5 inches
“copper zen mountain” (2023), rebar steel, stained glass, lead, and copper, 30 x 40 x 6 inches
“code switching” (2024), found chain-link fence, steel, stained glass, and lead, 64 x 48 x 8 inches
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From Remedios Varo to Laurie Simmons, a New Exhibition Forwards a Feminist View of the Uncanny
by Aurelia Butler 4 February 2025, 19:00
Remedios Varo, “Tejido espacio-tiempo (Weaving of Space and Time)” (1954), oil on Masonite, 32 1/2 x 28 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © 2023 Remedios Varo/Artists Rights Society, New York/VEGAP, Madrid. All images courtesy of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, shared with permission
From Remedios Varo to Laurie Simmons, a New Exhibition Forwards a Feminist View of the Uncanny
February 4, 2025
ArtHistoryPhotographySocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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In a 1906 essay, psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch coined the term “uncanny,” or unheimlich, meaning “unhomely” or “not home-like” in German. He defined the psychological phenomenon as the experience of something new or unknown that might initially be interpreted negatively.
Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud popularized the word with the publication of his book The Uncanny in 1919, which elaborated on the idea as not just the sensation of the unknown but also something capable of bringing out other hidden or repressed elements. He even went so far as to describe the uncanny as frightening.
Mary Ellen Mark, “Tashara and Tanesha Reese, Twins Days Festival, Twinsburg, Ohio” (1998; printed later), gelatin silver print, 20 x 24 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Image © Mary Ellen Mark/The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation
During the 20th century, the Surrealists often turned to the concept to build a sense of mystery or tension in their works. Meret Oppenheim, for instance, famously created a teacup lined with fur, simply titled “Object” (1936), widely regarded as an iconic example of the movement.
Oppenheim is one of more than two dozen artists whose work will appear in the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ forthcoming exhibition, Uncanny, featuring recent acquisitions and rarely shown pieces in NMWA’s collection, plus special loans.
More than 60 works by renowned figures of modern art history like Louise Bourgeois, Remedios Varo, and Leonora Carrington will be shown alongside the likes of contemporary artists like Shahzia Sikander, Laurie Simmons, and Gillian Wearing. The large-scale presentation is the first to approach the concept through a feminist lens, organizing works around themes of safety and surreal imaginings.
The show also plumbs the phenomenon of the “uncanny valley,” a term coined by robotics engineer Masahiro Mori in 1970 to describe the apprehension or discomfort one feels when confronted with something that is almost human but not quite, like video game characters that appear realistic yet still somehow seem “off.”
Laurie Simmons, “The Music of Regret IV” (1994), Cibachrome print, 19 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches. © 2019 Laurie Simmons
In Laurie Simmons’ “The Music of Regret IV” (1994), a female ventriloquist dummy sits in the center of a circle of six male dummy dolls, whose gazes are trained on her as she looked out into the distance. Tapping into a medium that has been used in the horror genre to instill a sense of creepiness or dread, Simmons’ central character is dramatically spotlit, her smile belying the reality that she is unsettlingly hemmed in.
Along the theme of safety, or specifically unsafe spaces, Fabiola Jean-Louis’s elaborately staged photographs tell two stories at once. The artist portrays “seemingly innocuous portraits of close acquaintances wearing elaborate period costumes typical of upper-class European women, while disturbing images of racial and sexual violence are hidden within the background or details of a dress, reminding the viewer of the lineage of violence,” says an exhibition statement.
Many works in the show address physical trauma or the body’s relationship to the unknown. Frida Orupabo’s photographic collages, for example, portray Black figures that evoke colonial histories, critiquing historical violence and injustices through a process of fragmenting, distorting, and multiplying body parts.
Orupabo’s compositions echo the surrealist collaborative practice of cadavre exquis, or exquisite corpse, in which participants add to elements others have drawn without being able to see their work, producing intuitive and peculiar drawings.
Frida Orupabo, “Two Heads (detail)” (2022), framed collage with paper pins, 58 1/4 x 41 1/2 inches. © Frida Orupabo, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nordenhake Berlin/Stockholm/Mexico City
“The enigmatic, darkly humorous and psychologically tense artworks in Uncanny give form to women artists’ powerful expressions of existential unease,” said NMWA Associate Curator Orin Zahra, who organized the exhibition. She continues:
Rather than comfort and soothe, these ghostly and fantastical figures haunt the unconscious. Instead of picturesque images, artists offer disquieting spaces that unsettle the viewer. In focusing on the ambiguity between reality and fiction, artists explore increasingly blurred lines between the artificial and eerily human.
Uncanny opens February 28 and continues through August 10 in Washington, D.C., highlighting painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper, and video made between 1954 and 2022. Learn more and plan your visit on the museum’s website.
Fabiola Jean-Louis, “They’ll Say We Enjoyed It” from the series ‘Rewriting History’ (2017), archival pigment print, 33 x 26 inches. © Fabiola Jean-Louis, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Myrtis
Gillian Wearing, “Sleeping Mask (for Parkett, no. 70)” (2004), wax reinforced with polymer resin, paint, 8 1/4 x 5 5/8 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Gillian Wearing/Artists Rights Society, New York/DACS, London
Julie Roberts, “Sigmund Freud Study” (1998), oil on acrylic ground on cotton duck, 84 x 72 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Julie Roberts/DACS, London
Gillian Wearing, “Me as Mona Lisa” (2020), chromogenic print, 24 1/4 x 19 1/8 inches. © Gillian Wearing, courtesy of the artist, Maureen Paley, London, and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles
Leonora Carrington, “The Ship of Cranes” (2010), bronze, 26 x 14 x 42 1/2 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Leonora Carrington/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Remedios Varo, “Fenómeno de ingravidez (Phenomenon of Weightlessness)” (1963), oil on canvas, 29 1/2 x 19 5/8 inches. © 2023 Remedios Varo/Artists Rights Society, New York/VEGAP, Madrid
Polly Morgan, “Receiver” (2009), taxidermy quail chicks and Bakelite telephone handset, 9 x 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. Artwork © Polly Morgan
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Elemental Shifts and Enigmatic Narratives Anchor Rupy C. Tut’s Mystical Paintings
by Aurelia Butler 3 February 2025, 12:58
“A River of Dreams” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 62 x 42 1/4 x 2 inches framed. Photos by Phillip Maisel. All images courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco
Elemental Shifts and Enigmatic Narratives Anchor Rupy C. Tut’s Mystical Paintings
February 3, 2025
ArtClimateSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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Verdant scenery inhabited by vibrant wildlife and graceful feminine figures center in the work of Rupy C. Tut, whose paintings (previously) draw upon her Sikh ancestry and experiences emigrating from India as a young girl. “As an environmentalist and Indian-American woman, she never takes place for granted,” says a statement from Jessica Silverman Gallery, which represents the artist.
Tut’s ethereal works tread the boundaries between abstraction, portraiture, pattern, and traditional Indian painting. Her compositions introduce narratives—often captivatingly mysterious—that highlight enigmatic mystical, elemental, and spiritual phenomena.
“Bursting with Clouds” (2024) handmade pigments on linen, 41 1/2 x 61 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed
The artist’s subjects typically exist front-and-center, like in “A River of Dreams,” in which a figure sits in a stream and observes a lily while dark clouds move in above. Motifs of darkening skies and dramatic change continue in recent works like “Bursting with Clouds” and “The First Rain.”
Oscillating between idyllic paradises, anxieties around climate disasters, and gender constraints, Tut focuses on female figures, turning the tables on a genre that typically focuses on male achievements. “I question traditional roles and labels while preserving traditional practices,” she says.
Tut was a 2024 recipient of the Joan Mitchel Foundation Fellowship, and her work is on view in the group exhibition About Place at San Francisco’s de Young through the end of November. You can explore more on her website and Instagram.
“A Place Dear to Me” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed
“The First Rain” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches framed
“Riding my Thunder” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 inches framed
“Where Dreams Flow” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 42 1/8 x 82 x 2 inches framed
“Bowing to the Cosmos” (2024), handmade pigments on linen, 61 3/8 x 41 5/8 x 2 inches framed
“Archipelago” (2024), handmade pigments on linen; diptych, 61 1/2 x 83 x 2 1/4 inches overall, framed
“Escaping the Heat” (2024), handmade pigments on hemp paper, 13 3/4 x 18 3/8 x 1 1/2 inches framed
“A Natural Thought” (2025), handmade pigments on linen, 81 1/2 x 41 1/2 x 2 inches framed
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Embellished Vodou Flags by Myrlande Constant Spotlight ‘The Spiritual World of Haiti’
by Aurelia Butler 28 January 2025, 17:49
“Ceromine Bois Caiman” (date unknown), beads and sequins on fabric, 52 x 82 inches. All images © Myrlande Constant, courtesy of the artist and Fort Gansevoort, New York, shared with permission
Embellished Vodou Flags by Myrlande Constant Spotlight ‘The Spiritual World of Haiti’
January 28, 2025
ArtHistorySocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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When Myrlande Constant (previously) was a teenager, she worked alongside her mother in a commercial wedding dress factory in Port-au-Prince. There, she learned the tambour embroidery technique, which utilizes a hook to create chain stitches with beads and sequins on fabric.
“By foregrounding her specialized skills honed in the fashion industry, Constant’s approach to drapo has broken gender barriers and elevated the overlooked creative labor of Haitian female factory workers to the realm of fine art,” says a statement from Fort Gansevoort, which will present the artist’s work next month in a solo exhibition titled The Spiritual World of Haiti.
“Marasah-Cai Leh-Créole-Marasah-Guinin-Marasah-bois” (date unknown), beads and sequins on fabric, 74 x 55.25 inches
Drapo, or drapo Vodou, typically describes a style of embroidered flag embellished with beads or sequins, but the term can also be applied to a wide range of art forms like painting, clothing, assemblages, and sculptures. Constant’s pieces, which she has been renowned for since the 1990s, highlight a variety of materials, colors, textures, and all-over compositions brimming with ritual activity and symbols.
Haitian Vodou, an African diasporic religion that developed between the 16th and 19th centuries, merged Western and Central African traditions with Roman Catholicism. Its divine creator, Bondye, is inaccessible to humans, so spirits known as lwa‘s serve as intermediaries that can be invoked during ceremonies by possessing individuals, enabling communication with Bondye and transmission of advice, admonishment, or healing.
“Though she considers her art-making to be rooted in spirituality, Constant does not create her works for the purpose of display in Vodou temples, preferring instead to exhibit them in museums and galleries internationally,” a statement says.
For Constant, art-making is a statement of resistance within the context of Haiti’s extreme political and economic instability. The nation’s current unrest was spurred by protests against high fuel prices in 2018 and a demand that then-president Jovenel Moïse resign. He refused to step down but was assassinated in 2021, further escalating tensions. A federation of gangs continues to clash with the government, spawning more protests, violence, and perpetuating an evolving humanitarian crisis.
Detail of “Au nom de 29 points cimetiere par pou voir Baron Samedi”
“Marinette Bois Chèche” is the earliest work that will be on view in the exhibition and depicts the martyrdom of Vodou lwa Marinette. According to folklore, Vodou lwa Marinette was burned alive for fighting against slavery and participating in a paradigm-shifting Bwa Kayiman ceremony in 1791, which spawned the 12-year Haitian Revolution.
The insurrection, an uprising of enslaved people against French colonial rule, is unique in history because it led to the founding of a state ruled by former captives and non-white people and free from slavery—although it still permitted forced labor. Constant’s title translates to something like “Marinette of the dry wood,” evoking the ceremony that typically takes place around a bonfire and calling upon a momentous period in Haiti’s history.
The artist’s drapo are densely beaded and often much larger than their traditional counterparts. The most recent work on view in the exhibition, “Devosyon Makaya” spans ten feet wide and took around three years to create. Constant describes her process as “painting with beads,” transforming fabric and findings into elaborate narratives evoking time-honored Haitian customs.
The Spiritual World of Haiti opens on February 27 and continues through April 26 in New York City.
“Au nom de 29 points cimetiere par pou voir Baron Samedi” (date unknown), beads and sequins on fabric, 58 x 70 inches
“Marinette Bois Chéche” (1994), beads and sequins on fabric, 33 x 37 inches
“Par pou voir torit les saints torit les morts torit armes ou purgatoir bó manman ak bo papa
maternel et paternal en non digr cela mizerricorde” (date unknown), beads, sequins, and tassels on fabric, 76.5 x 96 inches
Detail of “Par pou voir torit les saints torit les morts torit armes ou purgatoir bó manman ak bo papa
maternel et paternal en non digr cela mizerricorde”
Detail of “Ceromine Bois Caiman”
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Through Ceramics, Stephanie Shih Considers the Disillusioning Price of Domestic Bliss
by Aurelia Butler 27 January 2025, 14:03
“Nuclear Family” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, shared with permission
Through Ceramics, Stephanie Shih Considers the Disillusioning Price of Domestic Bliss
January 27, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Jackie Andres
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Nothing says true love like arguing about who left the cap off the toothpaste, right? From a darkly comedic perspective, Stephanie Shih explores the multiple meanings of “domestic bliss” in a social landscape fraught with consumerism and clashing politics.
It all started with the 1998 self-help book, Divorce for Dummies. The sardonic humor of a goofy cartoon character exclamatorily holding up a finger offering counsel to one’s broken marriage—for the totally reasonable price of $19.99—was a catalyst for Shih’s interest in the capitalist absurdity that came with the divorce boom of the 1980s and ’90s.
“Chores” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad
Shifting social and cultural factors, such as the introduction of no-fault divorce laws and emergent waves of feminism, drastically impacted the outlook on divorce in America. Rising individualism, disillusionment with the idea of a nuclear family, and the reclamation of feminine independence all played a part in annulment rates doubling for those aged over 35.
In Shih’s solo exhibition aptly titled Domestic Bliss, the Brooklyn-based artist spotlights what the gallery, Alexander Berggruen, describes as “artifacts of a single household.” The array of objects evoke the reality of a time when materialism, distorted expectations, and self-loathing created a perfect storm.
A Thigh Master one likely ordered from QVC in the deep hours of night sits alone on a pedestal, epitomizing the ways in which consumer culture preyed upon insecurities, only to sell women the illusion of control. Prisoner of Desire rests face-down on an ironing board to hold one’s place as escapism is interrupted by the mediocrity of chores. TV dinners stack atop a glowing microwave to signify power dynamics, a substantial portion of Hungry Man reserved for the father and the smallest box reserved for the mother.
Expanding upon her previous domestic sculptures, each ceramic object evokes a sense of realism, thanks to the artist’s thoroughness. As the exhibition text explains, Shih “scoured eBay listings for photo references and exact dimensions of discontinued packaging in order to faithfully sculpt each object in its era-appropriate likeness.” A range of materials and techniques are then applied to each form, such as hand-painted underglaze, dyed resin, and even electrical elements like lighting. Every step of the way, the artist skillfully instills the mundane with liveliness.
Domestic Bliss is on view at Alexander Berggruen in New York City through February 26. Find much more on Shih’s Instagram and website.
“Dissolution” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad
Photo by Robert Bredvad
“Jagged Little Pill” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad
Installation of “Domestic Bliss” (2024). Photo by Dario Lasagni
“Happy Meal” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad
“Hot Pockets” (2024). Photo by Robert Bredvad
Installation of “Domestic Bliss” (2024). Photo by Dario Lasagni
Installation of “Domestic Bliss” (2024). Photo by Dario Lasagni
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Flowers and Butterflies Stitch Messages of Hope into Crumpled Metal and Corroded Barrels
by Aurelia Butler 24 January 2025, 18:48
Detail of “MEADOWS.” Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė. All images courtesy of Severija Inčirauskaitė, shared with permission
Flowers and Butterflies Stitch Messages of Hope into Crumpled Metal and Corroded Barrels
January 24, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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On the sides of rusted barrels or crushed steel spheres, Lithuanian artist Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė (previously) applies delicate reminders of resilience. Using cotton thread, the artist cross-stitches vibrant flowers and butterflies onto facets of corroded metal, merging materials that appear to have little in common.
Where metal is rough, strong, and utilitarian, embroidery is tender, soft, and decorative. Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė taps into these diametric characteristics in her continuing examination of war. A large metal ball titled “OFFSIDE,” for example, represents the world’s cumulative conflicts. “It is like a huge disaster with a small embroidered butterfly that is like a small, fragile sign of hope,” she says.
“Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)” (2023), metal and cotton thread. Photo by Modestas Ežerskis and Ineta Armanavičiūtė
The small nation of Belarus separates Lithuania from Ukraine, where the impacts of the ongoing Russian assault reverberate across the region. “The war is very close to us,” the artist tells Colossal, “so we can’t relax and just think about life.” Incorporating insects and blooms, steeped in symbolic references to compassion, generosity, and care, Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė suggests that despite humans’ destructive actions, hope perseveres.
Find more on the artist’s Instagram.
“Offside” (2024), metal, and cotton threads. Photo by Enrika Samulionytė
Detail of “Offside.” Photo by Enrika Samulionytė
“OFFSIDE” (2024)
“MEADOWS” (2023), metal barrels and cotton, 360 x 40 x 20 centimeters. Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė
Detail of “MEADOWS.” Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė
“Timeless Fragility” (2022), oil barrel lid and cross stitch, 60 centimeters diameter. Photo by Ineta Armanavičiūtė
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Asya Marakulina Sculpts Poignant Ceramic Portraits of Demolished Homes
by Aurelia Butler 22 January 2025, 12:33
All images courtesy of Asya Marakulina, shared with permission
Asya Marakulina Sculpts Poignant Ceramic Portraits of Demolished Homes
January 22, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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Prior to the 20th century, apartment buildings and row houses were often built with shared walls between adjoining properties. Intrigued by these aging structures, Vienna-based artist Asya Marakulina began cataloging examples she first noticed on walks around her former home in St. Petersburg, Russia.
“Since houses in the 19th century were built without gaps between them, when one house is torn down, the neighboring house often bears traces of the demolished one,” Marakulina tells Colossal. These remnants of decor, plumbing, and other signs of human habitation form the basis of her ongoing ceramic series, There Was a Home.
When Marakulina moved to Vienna, she noticed a similar phenomenon in the remains of older buildings that had been demolished there, too. Fragments of floor still clung to the walls and the outlines of painted or papered rooms were suddenly—somewhat uncomfortably—external. The ease of a warm interior and its associated domesticity was upended.
“What touches and affects me the most in images of ruined houses are the traces of wallpaper, tiles, and children’s rooms, which suddenly become visible to the entire street,” the artist says, sharing that the sight evokes a deep sadness. “These spaces were never meant to be seen in such a way.”
Marakulina likens houses to the bodies of living organisms, imbued with emotions, memories, and layered histories. The ceramic cross-sections take on a portrait-like quality, capturing straightforward views of multistory edifices that are simultaneously immediate and intimate. “Maybe that’s why these images captivate me so much because a part of someone’s inner, domestic life is suddenly turned inside-out and put on public display,” she says.
The houses in There Was a Home are typically drawn from real buildings, photographs of which she captures herself or finds on the internet. Marakulina also considers the impacts of war and is profoundly moved by the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where thousands of homes have been destroyed and their inhabitants killed or displaced. The half-standing homes simultaneously represent lives lost and the hope of one day being able to rebuild.
Rather than straightforward copies of the buildings she encounters, Marakulina takes liberties with wall colors, sometimes adding graffiti or words she sees on the streets or derives from the news. She scores the clay to create the textures of tile and concrete or delineate lintels and former doorways. The resulting reliefs become collage-like, merging locations and motifs.
If you’re in Belgium, you can see the artist’s work in Ceramic Brussels, which opens today and continues through January 26. In London, Marakulina created a site-specific installation for a solo show at The Smallest Gallery in Soho, which continues through mid-February, and later that month, she will exhibit with Vienna Collectors Club. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.
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Lauren Halsey’s ’emajendat’ Is an Energetic Celebration of South Central Los Angeles
by Aurelia Butler 14 January 2025, 12:56
Installation view of ’emajendat’ at Serpentine South. Installation photos by Hugo Glendinning, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of Serpentine, shared with permission
Lauren Halsey’s ’emajendat’ Is an Energetic Celebration of South Central Los Angeles
January 14, 2025
ArtSocial Issues
Kate Mothes
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Inspired by the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Lauren Halsey’s family has lived for generations, vibrant sculptures and site-specific installations vividly reflect the artist’s community.
At Serpentine South, a large-scale, maximalist exhibition titled emajendat highlights Halsey’s self-described obsession with material culture, her interest in remixing messages and symbols, and the need to confront issues that affect people of color, the queer community, and the working class.
Installation view
Halsey gathers photographs, posters, flyers, commercial signs, and found objects that relate to her communities’ activism, highlighting “a sense of civic urgency and free-flowing imagination,” says David Kordansky Gallery, which co-represents the artist with Gagosian. “Inspired by Afrofuturism and funk, as well as the signs and symbols that populate her local environments, Halsey creates a visionary form of culture that is at once radical and collaborative.”
Past, present, and future merge in the artists exploration of how idols, architecture, history, and communication fuel how we perceive identities and society. She draws on the imagery of ancient Egypt, the African diaspora, Black and queer icons, and the visionary design associated with funk to construct a kind of ever-evolving archive.
In a monumental rooftop installation titled “the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I),” Halsey nods to palatial, ancient Egyptian architecture, placing the faces of notable Black figures on the columns’ capitals, such as activist Susan Burton and ethnomusicologist Dr. Rachel Eubanks.
Halsey’s eclectic “funkmound” sculptures also encompass numerous found items, harboring miniature dioramas and objects that appear as though they are emerging from heaps of cotton candy. Throughout emajendat, seemingly endless collages, sculptures, reflections, prismatic color, patterns, messages, and textures welcome the viewer into an enthusiastically immersive experience.
Installation view of ‘The Roof Garden Commission: Lauren Halsey,’ “the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I)” (2022). Photo by Hyla Skopitz, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of the artist; David Kordansky Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The social element of Halsey’s work is amplified by a community center she founded in 2019 called Summaeverythang, located adjacent to her studio in South Central. The nonprofit initiative is “dedicated to the empowerment and transcendence of Black and Brown folks socio-politically, economically, intellectually, and artistically.”
emajendat continues through February 23 in Kensington Gardens, London. Plan your visit on the gallery’s website.
Foreground: “keepers of the krown (susan burton)” (2024), glass fiber, reinforced concrete, and mixed media, 261 3/4 x 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches. Background: “keepers of the krown (dr. rachel eubanks)” (2024), glass fiber, reinforced concrete, and mixed media 261 3/4 x 48 1/8 x 48 1/8 inches. Photo by Andrea Avezzù, © Lauren Halsey, courtesy of the artist, David Kordansky Gallery, and Gagosian
Installation view
Installation detail
Installation view
Installation detail
Installation collage detail
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