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Art Design Illustration

A Monograph Gathers Dozens of Jolly, Anxious, and Relatable Characters by Artist Jean Jullien

“Pepe the Weekender” (2018), made for Lieux Mouvants. Image © Nicole Zezig. All images courtesy of Phaidon, shared with permission

It’s easy to recognize the quirky, joyful characters of French artist Jean Jullien. Whether looming over a park or gracing a deck of cards, his dodgy dogs, smirking fish, and mischievous tree-climbers are cartoonish in style and emotionally conspicuous with their anxious expressions and good-natured gestures. A forthcoming monograph published by Phaidon celebrates Jullien’s broad body of work, which spans public sculpture, illustration, and design. In addition to his most lauded projects, the 256-page volume also contains early sketches and never-before-seen pieces. Jean Jullien ships on May 25 from Bookshop.

Vivi (70 3/4 inches), Bruno (66 7/8 inches) Lili (55 1/8 inches), (2019), acrylic paint on aluminum. Photo © Jean Jullien Studio, courtesy of NANZUKA

“Dog Bench” (2019), limited-edition metal bench produced with Case Studyo. Image © Case Studyo

Sculpture for the show The People (2017), fiberglass, 4 7/8 feet. Image © Computer Graphic Plus Co., Ltd.

Photo collage for a feature published in National Geographic (April/May 2018). Image © the artist and Jean Jullien Studio

Design

A House of Crimson Steel Vines Harbors Memory and Mourning in Wuhan Shimenfeng Memorial Park

All images by Jin Weiqi

Rambling, weathered ivy constructs the walls of a home placed among the quiet, serene cemetery of Wuhan Shimenfeng Memorial Park. The project of designer Hu Quanchun of Field Conforming Studio, “The Vanished House” elicits the act of remembering in a public space devoted to mourning and memories. Tension between the enduring and transitory pervades the architectural work, shown through the combination of the sturdy material and open roof that appears to fade around the perimeter.

In a statement about the memorializing project, the studio likens the structure to that of a child’s sketch, explaining that the simple design draws attention to the sprawling vegetal forms laser cut from sheets of Corten steel. Over time, the crimson material will age with rain and sun, and its rusted color will stand in starker contrast to the green environment.

For more from Field Conforming Studio, including a similar vine-based project installed at Delong Steel Art Park in Leting, Tangshan, visit its site. (via designboom)

Art

Copper Wire Weaves and Spirals into Organic Sculptural Forms by the Late Artist Bronwyn Oliver

“Ammonite” (2005), copper, 95 x 90 x 90 centimeters. All images courtesy of the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney, shared with permission

Widely regarded as one of the most renowned sculptors in Australia, the late artist Bronwyn Oliver possessed an unparalleled ability to shape thin copper wire into intricate patterns. Her sculptures of ammonites, palm leaves, and single buds are minimal in form and incredibly detailed in construction, with oscillating lines delineating the edge of a fossil or an elaborate web expanding into a plump cherry blossom.

Evidence of Oliver’s devoted and time-consuming practice, the pieces are the result of intense twisting and brazing, a higher-temperature version of soldering. “My sculpture, I like to think of them as the bones of something. It might only be bone, but it might be the beginning or ending of something as well,” the artist says in a clip from the recent documentary about her life and work, The Shadows Within—the trailer is available on YouTube, but the full documentary is only streaming in Australia at the moment.

Oliver has gained greater recognition in recent years and is included in the corrective exhibition held at The National Gallery of Australia. Know My Name, which runs through June 26, showcases works from dozens of women who’ve significantly contributed to the country’s culture. Oliver’s sculptures are housed in major Australian collections, including those at The National Gallery, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the National Gallery of Victoria, and her public pieces can be seen at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden, the University of New South Wales, and Queen Street Mall in Brisbane. (via Women’s Art)

“Fringe” (2006), copper, 107 x 107 x 10 centimeters

“Sakura” (2006), copper, 48 x 48 x 20 centimeters

“Globe” (2002), copper, 2.5 meters in diameter

“Grandiflora (Bud)” (2005), copper, 60 x 58 x 58 centimeters

Left: “Palm” (1999), copper, 190 x 180 x 180 centimeters. Right: “Magnolia” (1999), copper, 210 x 150 x 150 centimeters

“Grandiflora (Bloom)” (2005), copper, 63 x 63 x 55 centimeters

“Eyrie” (1993), copper, bronze, 500 x 200 x 50 centimeters

Art

Bizarre Installations and Figurative Sculptures by Mark Jenkins Upend Notions of Reality

All images © Mark Jenkins, shared with permission

“I think my art is at its best when it’s subconscious-driven,” says Mark Jenkins. Veering from the witty and absurd to the disorienting and bizarre, Jenkins’ body of work confronts perceptions of reality through the surreal: a life-sized figure climbs a fire escape upside down, limp legs hang from a dumpster, and toast springs up from a sewer grate.

Whether installed in alleys and urban areas or within the stark, white space of a gallery, Jenkins’ sculptures are theatrical and logic-defying, and each piece mimics “life to the point where it becomes real, to me,” he shares. “Creating an alternative reality has been the solution for my mental health. I find reality a bit depressing with death and all, politics, war, celebrities, etc., and that all the stars are so far away we can never really get to know the universe.”

Jenkins is currently working in Los Angeles and soon headed to Le Havre, France, for his next project. You can follow his practice and explore an expansive archive of his sculptures on his site and Instagram.

Art

A Chromatic Installation by Felipe Pantone Turns a Public Walkway into an Architectural Kaleidoscope

Photo by Matt Alexander. All images © Felipe Pantone, shared with permission

Argentinian-Spanish artist Felipe Pantone (previously) magnifies the prismatic principles that ground his Subtractive Variability series to a phenomenal scale in the newly installed “Quick Tide.” Whether working in kinetic sculpture or large-scale murals, Pantone investigates the vast realm of color theory and its bottomless potential, in this instance transforming the cyan, magenta, and yellow model into a dynamic display. “The idea of creating a system in which I can create endless color combinations within the visible color spectrum by simply rotating or displacing the same image over and over (in C, M, Y)… the results are always random, unexpected, yet always interesting for me,” Pantone tells Colossal.

The site-specific “Quick Tide” wraps the upper and lower levels of an elevated walkway in London’s Greenwich Peninsula with a vibrant collision of light and pigment—see Liz West’s transformation of the same outdoor space previously on Colossal. Angled blocks hold radial gradients to “make obvious where the different colors overlap and how different hues appear. These details are usually easy to find as chromatic aberrations in prints by looking under the magnifier,” the artist shares, noting that the combinations shift in appearance depending on the time of day and position of the viewer.

Pantone will soon open a solo show titled Manipulable at Tokyo’s Gallery COMMON that invites visitors to interact with the works, and you can follow updates on that exhibition and new works on Instagram.

Photo by Charles Emerson

Photo by Charles Emerson

Photo by Charles Emerson

Photo by Matt Alexander

Photo by Charles Emerson

Photo by Matt Alexander

Photo by Matt Alexander

Art Design

Fire Erupts From a Gigantic Fantastical Dragon-Horse Designed and Operated by La Machine

Photo © Emmanuel Bourgeau. All images courtesy of La Machine, shared with permission

The street theater group known as La Machine revived one of its legendary beasts for an ongoing show in Toulouse. “Long Ma,” an enormous dragon-horse hybrid weighing 45 tons and standing 11 meters tall, was originally unleashed in Beijing in 2014 and now joins a minotaur and gigantic spider for an ongoing exhibition at La Halle in the French city. Each day through May 8, a team of artists animates the mechanical creature, which can be seen trotting, galloping, and rearing upward through the streets while she greets her similarly massive companions.

Capable of spitting smoke and water, the fire-breathing “Long Ma” is made from a combination of steel, wood, leather, blown glass, golden leaves, horsehair, and textiles. She also cradles a Chinese temple inspired by the Forbidden City on her back, which is big enough for 35 people to join her on her daily adventures.

Tickets to encounter the explosive character are available on the exhibition site, and you can see more of La Machine’s puppet-like creations in action on Instagram.

Photo © Emmanuel Bourgeau

Photo © Jordi Bover