bas-relief

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Art

A Monumental Bas-Relief Sculpture by Nick Cave Connects Senegalese and U.S. Cultures in a Web of Beadwork

All images © Nick Cave, by Michael JN Bowles, shared with permission

Innumerable pony beads, pipe cleaners, sequins, and objects gathered from two continents overlay a web of rainbow mesh that’s suspended in the U.S. Embassy atrium in Dakar. Installed in 2012, the expansive work by Chicago-based artist Nick Cave (previously) is composed of amorphous swells and circular patches of multicolor netting that stretch 20 x 25 feet. Physically connecting pieces of both U.S. and Senegalese culture, the webbed, bas-relief sculpture symbolically stands as “a unifier that brings people together,” Cave says in an interview.

Virginia Shore and Robert Soppelsa curated the project for Art in Embassies, a program led by the U.S. Department of State that fosters cross-cultural exchange through visual arts and spans more than 200 venues in 189 countries. “When you think about Art in Embassies and cultural diplomacy, what is interesting for me, as an artist, is, how can I facilitate that within the work that is developed? Yes, I will create the piece for the embassy, but I was also interested in ways to integrate the artists that live and work here,” he says.

Cave developed the structural portion of the work in his Chicago studio, and after meeting Sengalese artists, scholars, and students, he utilized pieces from three locals—Seni M’Baye, Loman Pawlitschek, and Daouda N’Diaye—once on site. The resulting installation, which weighs nearly 500 pounds, took Cave and ten assistants more than three months to complete.

Watch the interview below for more on the process behind the monumental project, and follow Cave’s work on Instagram.

Art

Detailed Portraits of Animals Combine Intricate Layers and Decorative Flourishes

The newest series by Manila-based paper artist Patrick Cabral (previously) features three white animals detailed with elements of black and gold. A pink nose serves as a stylistic outlier for a  whiskered tiger, while the long and narrow trunk of Cabral’s elephant is completed with a dazzling linear adornment in gold. The animal’s design is similar to a previous elephant iteration Cabral created out of paper in 2017. However, the newer piece’s radial patterns on its forehead and symmetrical ears provide a distinct contrast in composition. To support their more permanent display, the artist used MDF to form each intricate layer.

These works, in addition to a quetzal with wide-spread wings, were commissioned by Starbucks for a new Reserve location in Manilla, Philippines. You can learn more about how these sculptures came to fruition on Instagram.

Art Design

Interior Bas-Relief Sculptures of Peacocks and Lush Florals by Goga Tandashvili

Russian artist Goga Tandashvili carves large-scale bas-relief works in interior spaces, adding details such as florals, tropical leaves, and perched peacocks to otherwise flat surfaces. The three-dimensional murals project from the wall with a life-like accuracy, with each bloom and sprout of plumage having the same shape and size as the object it imitates. Tandashvili uses a combination of hand building and carving techniques to create the nature-based sculptures, which act as fluid extensions of the wall itself. (via My Modern Met)

Art

Mother of Pearl Shell Skull Carvings by Gregory Halili

Born and raised in the Philippines, New Jersey-based artist Gregory Halili is deeply influenced by the vegetation and wildlife he experienced as a child. His latest series of work involves a fusion of the human form with the natural world in these amazing bas-relief shell skulls. Halili carves and then paints with oil on raw, gold-lip and black-lip mother of pearl found in shells collected from the Philippines. The pieces will soon be exhibited at Silverlens Galleries in Manila and Nancy Hoffman Gallery in NYC, but for now you can see much more in this Facebook gallery. (via Junk Culture, Skullspiration)

Art

Found Wood Assembled Into Bas-Relief Sculptures by Ron van der Ende

Veneer Theory, 2014. Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 60″ x 61″ x 6″.

Watershed (Yosemite), 2013. Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 71″ x 79″ x 5″.

Cross-Section I, 2012. Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 74″ x 44″ x 5″.

Cross-Section I, detail.

Airstream R.V., 2012. Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 120″ x 53″ x 5″.

Airstream R.V., detail.

Phoenix: Rise! (Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am), 2011. Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 102″ x 37″ x 7″.

Phoenix: Rise! (Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am), detail.

Axonometric Array, 2008. Bas-relief in reclaimed timbers, size variable.

Cold Storage, 2013. Bas-relief in salvaged wood, 76″ x 52″ x 6″.

Working with stacks of found wood, Dutch artist Ron van der Ende assembles gigantic bas-relief sculptures inspired by space, nature, industry, as well as retro technology and vehicles. The original color and texture of each wood fragment is left intact, making each sculpture into a mosaic containing both a new image and the history of its materials. Van der Ende has so finely honed his technique that one might first assume when viewing a sculpture that they are instead paintings. Because of the artworks strong sense of perspective, some viewers have reported feeling dizzy when first encountering one of his sculptures.

You can see much more of the artist’s work on his website and he’ll also be showing work through Ambach & Rice in April at the Dallas Art Fair.

Art

Remarkable Hobo Nickels Carved from Clad Coins by Paolo Curcio

About two years we featured a great selection of skull nickels, a numismatic curiosity where miniature bas-relief sculptures are carved into coins, an art form that’s broadly referred to as hobo nickel art. While researching a follow-up article I stumbled onto the work of Paolo Curcio (aka “mrthe”) who appears to have taken the process of carving coins to an entirely new level. Using a variety of different coins the Barcelona-based artist creates etched homages to pop culture, illustrations of figures from literature, and most commonly: macabre portraits of skulls and death, probably the most prevalent theme in hobo nickel art.

One aspect of Curcio’s process that’s really amazing is his ability to use coins made from multiple layers of metal (referred to as clad coins) which he then strategically reveals to create colored flourishes and background patterns. Keep an eye on his Ebay page for occasional coin listings.