sculpture

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Art Craft

Hundreds of Ceramic Circles are Linked Together in Movable Sculptures by Cecil Kemperink

Ceramic artist Cecil Kemperink creates delicate chain sheets using hundreds of interconnected ceramic loops. The chains are then draped in piles, forming malleable sculptures that are simultaneously hulking and fragile. Kemperink generally uses a minimal color palette, highlighting the natural tone of the clay while using subtle ombrés to accentuate the multiple parts within each finished work. With a multi-faceted background in dance and fashion, “her sculptures show the connection between her various passions. She investigates ‘space’ and plays with rhythm, form, movement, energy and sound,” according to a statement on Kemperink’s website. The Dutch artist’s most recent solo exhibition, which closes on September 29, 2019, is at Musea della Ceramica in Mondovi, Italy. See more of Kemperink’s work on her website and Instagram, where she often shares videos of in-progress work and records the transfixing sounds of her sculptures in motion.

 

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A post shared by Cecil Kemperink (@cecilkemperink) on Sep 16, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

Art

Bronze Sculptures of Regal African Women by Wangechi Mutu Make History at the Metropolitan Museum

The Seated I, 2019. Wangechi Mutu

Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to create four bronze sculptures of African women collectively titled “The NewOnes, will free Us.” The seated women are nearly 7 feet tall and each weigh more than 840 lbs. The sculptures are the first works of art to fill the niches of the museum’s Fifth Avenue facade since the building’s completion in 1902.

Mutu’s sculptures, individually titled The Seated I, II, III, and IV, are dressed in coiled garments and feature polished discs on different parts of their heads. This ornamentation references the jewelry and lip plates worn by women in some African tribes. They also reference the West African and Greek tradition of caryatids, female figures carved out of wood or marble that were depicted as structural or metaphorical supports.

“Caryatids throughout history have carried these buildings to express the might and the wealth of a particular place,” the Nairobi-born artist said in a video interview on The Met’s website. Looking to use her sculptures as a way to stage what The Met calls a “feminist intervention,” Mutu added that she wanted to “keep the DNA of the woman in an active pose, but I didn’t want her to carry the weight of something or someone else.”

“The NewOnes, will free Us” will remain on view in the museum’s niches through January 12, 2020. Follow along with Mutu’s travels and cultural inspirations on Instagram. (via Hyperallergic)

Photo: Zachary Small / Hyperallergic

Photo: Zachary Small / Hyperallergic

The Seated II, 2019. Wangechi Mutu

The Seated III, 2019. Wangechi Mutu

The Seated IV, 2019. Wangechi Mutu

Art

Old Books Become Craggy Mountains and Waterway Channels in Otoniel Borda Garzon’s Mixed Media Sculptures

Art

Finely Wrought Metal Flowers and Leaves Form the Bodies of Mammals and Birds in Sculptures by Taiichiro Yoshida

Taiichiro Yoshida’s metal sculptures (previously) are so meticulously crafted and impossibly delicate that one could be forgiven for thinking they are digital renderings. However, Yoshida is an accomplished metalsmith who uses silver, bronze, and copper to form the leaves, flowers, and butterflies that cover the bodies of each mammal or bird. Every petal, leaf, and wing is hand-formed, with the coloration created by heating and cooling the metals at specific temperatures. The 29 year-old Japanese artist earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in metal carving at Tokyo University the Arts. He has exhibited widely and most recently had a solo exhibition at Gallery Kogure in Tokyo. See more of Yoshida’s sculptures on the artist’s website.

Art

Material Properties: Celebrating the Art of Craftsmanship in a Group Exhibition at Paradigm Gallery + Studio

Kendal Murray

Colossal is proud to announce Material Properties, a forthcoming group exhibition curated by our Founder and Editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson. The show, which opens on September 27 and runs through October 19, 2019, is at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, PA. Material Properties examines the intertwined histories of fine art and craft through the work of six artists from around the world.

Iranian embroidery artist Maryam Ashkanian (previously) captures the dream worlds of sleeping people on pillows and Portuguese textile artist Vanessa Barragão (previously) creates massive tapestries of natural topographies using salvaged materials. Philadelphia-based sculptor James McNabb (previously) builds stylized urban landscapes, while Kendal Murray (previously) imagines nostalgic miniature worlds set atop found makeup compacts and purses. Michigan-based sculptor Matthew Shlian (previously) transforms simple sheets of paper into large-scale tessellated surfaces, and Yoonmi Nam, who lives and works in Kansas, plays with temporality and impermanence in her meticulous replicas of single-use containers.

Please join us for an opening reception on September 27 from 5:30 to 10pm. Artist James McNabb and Christopher Jobson will be present at the opening and you can RSVP on Facebook.

Maryam Ashkanian

James McNabb

Matthew Shlian

Vanessa Barragão

Yoonmi Nam / “Take Out (Thank You Thank You Thank You)”, Lithograph on Gampi paper, cast glass.

Art

New Solo Exhibition by Seth Globepainter Fills a Historic Chateau in Bordeaux, France

Collaboration with Pascal Vilcollet

French artist Julien Malland, aka Seth Globepainter (previously), has spent the summer exhibiting a large body of work inside and outside of the Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez. Located in Bordeaux, France, the historic chateau was built in the 18th century and now doubles as a cultural center. Malland’s takeover includes dozens of paintings, installations, and sculptures that have transformed the castle into a colorful record of his travels and a look into his mind.

Titled 1,2,3, Soleil, the exhibition features over 50 of the artist’s faceless characters. Each room in the chateau has a theme that represents one of Malland’s previous projects in countries around the world. Vibrant colors and geometrical shapes are complicated by themes of conflict and loneliness. The exhibition includes site-specific installations as well as collaborative pieces made with artists Mono Gonzalez and Pascal Vilcollet.

The walk through Malland’s world will remain on view in France through October 7, 2019. In addition to his solo show, Malland also recently completed two murals in Denmark as part of Kirk Gallery‘s annual Out in the Open mural initiative. To keep up with the artist’s latest projects, follow him on Instagram.

© Constant-Formé-Becherat

© Constant-Formé-Becherat

© Julien-Malland

© Julien-Malland

© Julien-Malland

© Constant-Formé-Becherat

© Constant-Formé—Becherat

© Constant-Formé-Becherat

Seth | ‘The Phoenix’ | Østerbro 22 | Aalborg (Photo: Seth)

Seth | ‘Jack in the Box’ | Østerbro 41 | Aalborg | Denmark

Art Photography

South African Flowers Frozen into Fleeting Arrangements

South African photographers Bruce Boyd and Tharien Smith have spent the last two years photographing clusters of brightly colored flowers trapped in blocks of ice. The temporary sculptures are captured underwater, where the ice begins to crack and add further dimension to the floral compositions.

Flowers are sourced from Cape Town’s gardens, hedges, and trees, which are then placed in plastic containers and frozen for three nights. At dawn, Boyd and Smith take the capsules to the nearest stream or pool to begin their photoshoot. “Very few of the frozen arrangements come out perfectly,” explains Boyd to Colossal. “Mostly bubbles form that obscure the flowers, or the flowers drift from their set positions. We have learned to accept the imperfections, and even make it part of our work.”

You can see more of their arrangements on their project website Zero Degrees, in addition to Facebook, and Instagram. Boyd and Smith also offer fine art prints of their frozen flowers. (via Colossal Submissions)