pearls

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Art History

While Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Is on Loan, the Mauritshuis Showcases 170 Imaginative Renditions in Its Place

While Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is on loan to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum for the largest-ever exhibition of the Dutch artist’s work, a cheeky surrogate takes its place. The Mauritshuis in the Hague is currently showing My Girl with a Pearl, a lighthearted and vastly creative digital installation, where the iconic painting usually resides.

Resulting from an open call last year that garnered nearly 3,500 submissions, the temporary piece features 170 renditions of Vermeer’s 1655 portrait presented on a loop. Mediums and styles vary widely, and the installation features everything from an abstract iteration using multi-color rubber bands to elegantly photographed portraiture to the viral corn-cob figure.

My Girl with a Pearl is on view through April 1 when the original painting—which has been the site of speculation in recent weeks as scholars revealed the earring to be an imitation—is slated to return to the Hague. Those who won’t be able to see the installation in person can find dozens of the renditions on Instagram, in addition to a virtual exhibition of the Vermeer exhibition on the Rijksmuseum’s site.

 

Art

Strings of Pearls Emulate Tears and Form Connections in Intimate Ceramic Sculptures by First of May Studio

For millennia, pearls have been treasured for their luminous sheen and range of hues and were first documented for their use as gemstones more than 4,000 years ago in China. Symbolic of luck, wisdom, and prosperity in cultures throughout the world, these organic orbs have given rise to myths and legends related to divine beings, often said to be fashioned from the tears of mermaids or gods. In Greek myth, it’s said that if a bride wears pearls on her wedding day, she won’t cry. Ceramic sculptures by Butaoxi Kao of First of May Studio build upon this history and express emotions and connection through strings of pearls.

Based in Taiwan, Butaoxi’s background as an illustrator and graphic designer influenced her interest in modeling with ceramic, which she began working with in 2015 following an injury that prompted a new way of thinking about her practice. In the ongoing series Tears are Pearls, she explores the universality of intense feeling and applies the iridescent droplets to express a range of emotions from sadness to frustration, pain to joy. Examining how emotions connect us to one another and to our past, the artist uses pearls in various shapes and sizes, which leak from eyes or link to other figures. Their upper bodies are often shaped into forms that resemble toys or games like jigsaw puzzles or swings.

Several new works are currently on view in a solo exhibition The Crying Game, on view at Yuri Arts in Taipei through October 15, which delves into the connection between childhood and nostalgia, evoking a connection to innocence, play, and deep-seated memories. You can find more work by First of May Studio on Instagram.

 

Art Food Photography

Pearls Puncture and Support Fruit and Vegetables in Photographs by Ana Straže

In her latest series Forbidden Foods, photographer Ana Straže pierces a peeling slice of grapefruit, a cut eggplant, and other fruits and vegetables using small pins topped with pearls to create contemporary still lifes of common foods. The Slovenia-based artist manipulates food and positions the pins in patterns as an attempt to alter the meaning of the every day objects. Straže tells Colossal she hoped the pearls would “help expose and emphasize different shapes and food value, such as emphasizing the structure of the epidermis, helping compositionally insert an object into a given space, complementing the food, and adding a new perspective.”

The ongoing series is an extension of the photographer’s previous work Garden of Eden, a project that centered on women’s expulsion in the Old Testament. “Through contemporary ways, I want to capture food in a unique approach with a slight sensual touch,” Straže writes. “With the Forbidden Food series, I’m trying to discover the limits of aesthetics and notice the importance of simple everyday things.” You can see more of the photographer’s food-based work on Instagram.

Art Craft Design

New Miniature Anatomical Sculptures and Jewelry Carved From Pearls by Shinji Nakaba

Shinji Nakaba (previously) is a master of carving carefully into miniature objects, creating skulls and other anatomical forms from pearls no larger than the end of a finger tip. Nakaba considers these works “wearable sculptures,” as each pearl takes the form of a ring, necklace, or pin. Although he uses precious metals and stones for his high-end jewelry, he is not against mixing in more common materials. Nakaba has been known to also incorporate aluminum from beer cans and trimmings from plastic bottles.

“I’m dealing with all materials equally no matter how precious they are,” said Nakaba. “I bring out their hidden talents and beauty and they are being re-born as treasure.”

You can see more of his wearable works on his online shop.

Art Craft Design

Miniature Skulls Carved from Pearls Used to Create Anatomical Jewelry

Producing work since 1974, Japanese artist and jeweler Shinji Nakaba infuses all matter of anatomical forms, skulls, and flowers into what he describes as “wearable sculptures.” The pieces come in all shapes and sizes, but his most prolific series involves human and animal skulls carved from oyster pearls and attached to rings, necklaces, and brooches. In addition to selling pieces through his online shop, Nakaba’s work has been shown at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, as well as several galleries and museums around Japan. You can see more of his jewelry designs and pearl carvings on his website. (via Colossal Submissions)

Art

A Sailing Ship Dripping with Loot Explores the Perceived Status Symbol of Pearls

Ann Carrington‘s piece “Galleons and Feathers” is inspired by Wing Wo Wave City, an industrial estate in Zhuijang Province, China which manufactures a massive amount of pearl adornment. The piece is formed in the shape of a 3-mast shop, floating over an opulent sea of brooches, earrings, necklaces and tiaras. The work both contains, and is inspired by, these glistening round objects, and Carrington explains on her website that they highlight “the discrepancy between their perceived status of being timeless status symbols of refined taste and wealth (with exotic overtones) and the often very unromantic reality.”

Carrington studied at Bournville College of Art, Birmingham and The Royal College of Art where she graduated in 1987. Carrington was invited by the United Nations in 2010 to produce artwork that raised awareness of current issues, her first work for them presented at the UN Human Trafficking conference in December 2010. She will have a solo show at The Royal College of Art in October 2016. (via Supersonic and Lustik)