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Massive Butterflies Alight on Architecture in Larger-Than-Life Trompe L’oeil Murals by Mantra
Art
#butterflies
#insects
#murals
#nature
#public art
#trompe l’oeil
June 1, 2022
Kate Mothes More
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A Trompe L’oeil Mural by Shozy Imagines a 3D Architectural Addition to an Apartment Building
Art
#architecture
#mural
#public art
#trompe l’oeilJanuary 28, 2022Grace EbertAll images courtesy of Urban Morpho Genesis, shared with permissionA concrete apartment building in Solnechnodolsk, Russia, seems to have added balconies, windows, and a few extra rooms in a trippy new mural by artist Danila Shmelev, aka Shozy. Created for the Urban Morpho Genesis festival, the massive optical illusion appears as a three-dimensional construction that juts out from the complex, despite lying flat on the corner walls. The Moscow-born artist says:In Russia, we are all accustomed to the architecture of panel houses. Our eyes are so blurred that aesthetics are out of the question. With my work, I want to focus the viewer’s attention on a familiar landscape and show it from an unusual side, complementing the real ends of two five-story buildings with illusory geometry, so that they draw the eye of the viewer to the ordinary landscape, encouraging them to really consider it.You can find more from Shozy and the festival on Instagram, and shop smaller trompe l’oeil works on canvas on Hiya.
#architecture
#mural
#public art
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Hyperrealistic Ceramic Sculptures by Christopher David White Mimic the Splintered Texture of Decaying Wood
Art
#ceramics
#hyperrealism
#sculpture
#trompe l’oeil
#woodDecember 16, 2021Grace Ebert“Carbon Footprint.” All images © Christopher David White, shared with permissionIn his Richmond studio, artist Christopher David White (previously) practices an alchemy of materials as he transforms slabs of clay into deceptive sculptures and functional objects that appear carved from hunks of decaying wood. His trompe l’oeil ceramics are fragile depictions of the hardy material, complete with its gnarled knots and splintered edges in various states of decomposition.To achieve such a hyperrealistic finish, each piece undergoes multiple rounds of detailing—head to Instagram for a glimpse behind-the-scenes—which White starts by shaping the initial form with knots and branches and imprinting large grooves for the grain. After the work dries slightly, dental instruments, wire brushes, and Xacto knives aid in crafting the more intricate components, and the slightly dehydrated material lends itself to natural cracks and divots that enhance the woody texture. Once fired, the artist paints each sculpture with a largely neutral palette of acrylics.White continues to explore humans’ relationship to the environment in both his figures and smaller works, although he’s recently shifted to more overt considerations of the topic. “I seek to highlight humanity’s abuse and disregard for nature along with the contradictions in our actions,” he says. “Humans have a tendency to acknowledge the beauty, fragility, and uniqueness of nature while simultaneously viewing it as a resource to be endlessly exploited, controlled, and discarded.”Shop prints in White’s shop, and keep an eye on his Instagram and site for updates on new batches of mugs, planters, and other works.“Paint It Red”“Pushing Up Daisies”“Weathered Heart”“Not 2B”“Coral mug”“Small planters”“Teapot set”
#ceramics
#hyperrealism
#sculpture
#trompe l’oeil
#woodDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now! Share this story More - in Art
From Intricate Stencils to Vibrant Flowers, Nine New Murals Transform Blank Facades in Tbilisi
Art
#flowers
#murals
#public art
#street art
#trompe l’oeilNovember 29, 2021Grace EbertMonkeyBird. All images courtesy of Tbilisi Mural Fest, shared with permissionSince Tbilisi Mural Fest began in 2019, the streets of Georgia’s capital have seen the towering, large-scale works of artists like Collin van der Sluijs (previously), Case Maclaim, and Faith XLVII (previously), whose celestial, intersecting circles are a highlight of this year’s event. The 2021 festival features nine pieces in total that range in aesthetic and subject matter, including a mythological, black-and-white stencil by MonkeyBird (previously), bold botanicals by Thiago Mazza (previously), and a striking trompe-l’œil papercut by 1010. Each monumental work addresses an environmental, social, or other relevant issue affecting today’s world, and you can find 2021’s lineup below. (via Street Art News)Thiago Mazza1010Faith XLVIIJDLLeft: Kade90. Right: David SamkharadzeAPHENOAH
#flowers
#murals
#public art
#street art
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Trompe L’oeil Textiles Billow Across Murals by Rosie Woods in Iridescent Ripples
Art#fabric
#murals
#public art
#spray paint
#street art
#trompe l’oeilApril 29, 2021
Grace Ebert“Veils of Knowledge” at Grenoble Street Art Festival in France. Photo by Andrea Berlese. All images © Rosie Woods, shared with permission
As if lifted by a breeze, oversized ribbons and bunches of fabric float across the trompe l’oeil murals by London-based artist Rosie Woods. The gleaming, prismatic textiles sway and subtly twist into folds and ripples in the spray-painted works. Through the flowing movements, Woods explores the fluid, ever-changing nature of the human experience by synthesizing abstraction and realism. She explains:
I often wonder what my soul would look like if it manifested itself as an object I could see and touch on this earth. My artwork today looks to express the depth, growth, and complexity of the mind as well as its ability to encompass both light and dark spaces emotionally. I’d like to think you can “feel” my artwork with your eyes.
Woods translates her massive, lustrous textiles to smaller canvases, which she sells in her shop. Although she’s sold-out at the moment, you can watch for upcoming releases on Instagram, where she shares a variety of process shots and news on where she’s headed next.“Veils of Knowledge” at Grenoble Street Art Festival in France. Photo by Andrea Berlese
“Veils of Knowledge” at Grenoble Street Art Festival in France. Photo by Andrea Berlese
“Veils of Knowledge” at Grenoble Street Art Festival in France. Photo by Andrea Berlese
Woods working at Grenoble Street Art Festival in France. Photo by Andrea Berlese
Photo by Daniel Vaughan
Photo by Daniel Vaughan#fabric
#murals
#public art
#spray paint
#street art
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The Wound: JR’s New Anamorphic Artwork Appears to Carve Out the Facade of Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi
Art#anamorphosis
#black and white
#installation
#public art
#street art
#trompe l’oeilMarch 23, 2021
Grace Ebert“La Ferita” (2021), 28 x 33 meters, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. Image courtesy of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, shared with permission
French artist JR unveiled an imposing artwork at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence last week that mimics a massive gash in the institution’s Renaissance-era facade. Spanning 28 x 33 meters, “La Ferita,” or “The Wound,” is an anamorphic collage that appears to reveal the iconic artworks housed inside the building, in addition to a stately courtyard colonnade, exhibition hall, and library. Exposing different parts of the interior as the viewer shifts position, the artwork is in response to the lack of accessibility at cultural institutions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Completed alongside a team of 11 in two months, the site-specific piece was constructed 30 centimeters in front of the 15th Century ashlar facade with a metal structure and 80 panels of Dibond aluminum. It features JR’s signature photographic style—similar projects were installed at Williamsburg’s Domino Park, the Louvre, and the U.S./Mexico border—and includes a mix of real and imagined elements, including black-and-white renderings of Botticelli’s “Primavera” and “Birth of Venus” and Giambologna’s “The Rape of the Sabine Women,” in addition to prominent spaces like the Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento.
“The Wound” is layered further with references to art history, from its use of the trompe l’oeil technique that grew in popularity in the 1500s to its evocation of ruinism, an 18th Century style that portrayed ancient architecture “as testimonials to a glorious past in a dramatic reflection on the fate of mankind,” a release says, noting that Palazzo Strozzi will not be preserving the piece beyond its initial construction.
Follow JR’s monumental works on Instagram, and shop lithographs and books chronicling his projects on his site.#anamorphosis
#black and white
#installation
#public art
#street art
#trompe l’oeilDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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Strength: Pejac Honors Spain’s Health Workers with a Moving Trio of Interventions
Art#COVID-19
#painting
#public art
#trompe l’oeilOctober 16, 2020
Grace Ebert“Overcoming.” All images © Pejac, shared with permission
On the campus of University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla in Santander, Spain, a trio of interventions by street artist Pejac (previously) simultaneously responds to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and offers potential paths for healing. The new series, titled Strength, is Pejac’s direct response to the 50,000 people who have died from the virus in his home country. “The idea of the Strength project arises as a gesture of gratitude to the health workers of Valdecilla, for their work in general and during this Covid crisis in particular. Offering them what I do best, which is painting,” the artist says.
In “Social Distancing” (shown below), a horde of people escape from a crevice in the building’s facade. The trompe l’oei artwork is a multi-layered metaphor for the ways the virus has ruptured society and the necessity of community care and compassion. “Caress” features two silhouettes standing six-feet apart, with Monet-style reflections on the ground nearby. The figures, which represent a patient and doctor, stretch their hands toward each other.
Pejac worked in collaboration with young oncology patients to complete the third piece, titled “Overcoming” (shown below), in which a child perched on a wheelchair recreates Van Gogh’s “Wheat Field with Cypresses.” “This is something that we, as a society could do—take this crisis and use it to propel us forward,” he says.
Watch the heartwarming video below that captures the works-in-progress, and find more about the tribute on Pejac’s Instagram.“Social Distancing”
“Social Distancing”
“Caress”
“Caress”
“Social Distancing”
“Social Distancing”
“Overcoming”
“Overcoming”“Overcoming”
“Social Distancing”
#COVID-19
#painting
#public art
#trompe l’oeilDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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Mantra’s Trompe L’oeil Murals Encase Enormous Butterflies in Vintage-Style Boxes
Art#butterflies
#murals
#public art
#street art
#trompe l’oeilOctober 15, 2020
Grace EbertTorino, Italy. All images © Mantra, shared with permission
Working with entomologists around the globe, the French street artist known as Mantra (previously) transforms brick facades and concrete walls into massive studies of local butterfly specimens. With framed outer edges that mimic a wooden box, the trompe l’oeil murals render the winged insects in detail, depicting their richly hued scales and delicate antennae. Each artwork features species native to the area, making it possible that a live specimen might flutter by its enormous counterpart.
In a conversation with Colossal, Mantra said he’s harbored a lifelong fascination with entomology that stems from spending hours in French gardens and bucolic areas as a kid. “As a child, I was interested, curious, and focused on the small life forms in those places,” he says. His current practice hearkens back to those carefree hours and connects with an adolescent desire to become a naturalist. “My approach is as a scientist,” the artist says, noting that education about environmental care and issues is part of the goal.
Although Mantra considers all insects and natural life beautiful and crucial to maintaining biodiversity, the focus on butterflies revolves around his artistic ambitions because the vivid creatures allow him to experiment with color, shape, and texture. Each specimen is rendered freehand before the artist adds detail and the illusory shadows that make them appear three-dimensional. By painting various Lepidoptera species again and again, the artist is “repeating a mantra,” a detail of his practice that informs the moniker he works under.
In recent months, Mantra has traveled to Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden, in addition to various locations throughout France, to complete public artworks, and he’ll be in Arkansas this month for two projects curated by Just Kids. Follow all of the artist’s entomological murals on Instagram.Rombas, France
Cancún, Mexico. Image by Gino Caballero
Silkeborg, Denmark
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dijon, France
Jacksonville, Florida
Brooklyn, New York
Dallas, Texas. Image by Chop’ em Down
Overum, Sweden
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cancún, Mexico. Image by Gino Caballero
Torino, Italy. Image by Martha Cooper#butterflies
#murals
#public art
#street art
#trompe l’oeilDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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