Steve Messam’s Inflatable Installations Highlight How Landscapes and Architecture Shape Communities and Culture

“Crested” (2023), The Hague, The Netherlands. All images © Steve Messam, shared with permission

Whether coaxing new life from abandoned structures in expansive landscapes or drawing attention to modest urban elements, Steve Messam provokes shifts in perspective and new ways of seeing our surroundings. The County Durham-based artist creates site-specific, inflatable installations that recontextualize ruins, statues, or stately architecture into temporary public sculptures. Working internationally, many of his projects also focus on locations around his home in the North of England, drawing attention to landscapes rich with history, relics of which are easy to overlook.

Messam plays with concepts of visual landmarks and follies in his series Architect of Ruins, spotlighting a handful of dilapidated remnants around Weardale and Teesdale, ranging from World War II pillboxes to disused railway bridges to crumbling industrial remains. “By highlighting these often overlooked structures, the project aims to reveal the layers of narrative that make up the story of the landscape, from mining and agriculture to the transformative effect of the railways and the role of landowners,” he says.

In another recent work, “Belltower,” the artist draws attention to the recognizable House Bell Turret of Ushaw in Durham, which has “more Pugin architecture than you can shake a gothic stick at,” Messam says. “I wanted to install a piece that would act as a silhouette to what already exists and create an homage to some of the incredible Gothic Revival architecture on the site.”

 

“Belltower” (2020), Ushaw Historic House and Gardens, Durham, U.K.

Opting for a more modern canvas, Messam created “Crested”—part of Blow Up Art Den Haag—on top of a contemporary entrance to a subterranean parking garage, toying with language and form to create an abstract, pointed crown. His installations for the program last autumn interpreted historic landmarks, and this year he was keen to reframe something pointedly not historic. “A crest is something you have on a bird—something on top of a head—but it’s also the whiteness on a wave when it breaks,” he says. “It doesn’t get more ‘not of note’ than the entrance to an underground car park.” By installing massive red spikes on top of a functional building designed to blend in, Messam gives it “its moment,” transforming an unassuming structure into a focal point.

Blow Up Art Den Haag continues through May 28, and the series Encounters at Bicester Village remains on view into June. He also has four new pieces at Clerkenwell Design Week later in the month, and the National Railway Museum in York will unveil a new permanent installation in July. See more work on his website, Instagram, and a growing archive of projects on Vimeo.

 

“Cottage” (2022), Killhope Lead Mining Museum, County Durham, U.K.

Part of ‘Architect of Ruins’ (2020), Weardale and Teesdale, County Durham, U.K.

“Cottage” (2022), Killhope Lead Mining Museum, County Durham, U.K.

“Star” (2022), Killhope Lead Mining Museum, County Durham, U.K.

Part of ‘Architect of Ruins’ (2020), Weardale and Teesdale, County Durham, U.K.

“Belltower” (2020), Ushaw Historic House and Gardens, Durham, U.K.

Part of ‘Architect of Ruins’ (2020), Weardale and Teesdale, County Durham, U.K.

“Bungalow” (2023), Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Part of ‘Encounters’ (2023), Bicester Village, U.K.

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Lavish Scenes Glorify the Female Figure in Olivia De Bona’s Straw Marquetry

“L’heure Rouge.” All images © Olivia De Bona, shared with permission

Through glimpses of elegant interiors lush with plants, Paris-based artist Olivia De Bona celebrates the beauty and contours of the female body. Her straw marquetry—the process of applying thin layers of material (usually veneer) to a surface—adds natural texture, variegation, and historical relevance to such intimate and decadent scenes. Referencing Romanticism and the Vietnamese wood carving traditions of her ancestors, the works require “patience, and an incalculable number of hours, that allows me to dive out of time and brings me back to something very concrete, real, far from the famous, facing myself and in tribute to all the women artisans to the forgotten work,” the artist says.

On view now at BEERS London, De Bona’s latest body of work reckons with voyeurism, implicating the viewer from the outset. Sensuous and heavily stylized, the pieces largely depict nude women unaware and in a moment of passing, shown through elements like “a hidden passage, a doorway, a transition from one state to another where we can peek at what is hidden and what is revealed,” the artist shares. The exhibition is titled Le Panache, a term that today indicates flamboyant confidence and that historically denotes an elaborate headdress, the latter of which is recalled in the fiery red feathers of “La Poule.”

De Bona is drawn to this sense of “reckless courage” that “transform(s) all women into goddesses. I put my loving and tender look for all her bodies, all her forms,” she says. Many of these recent works were inspired by the artist’s friend, a professional dancer who joined her in the studio to perform. “This has very little to do with voyeurism and is really about tenderness,” De Bona shares. “A connection between persons, between women, allowing space for discussion and creativity.  There was a very raw connection between her movements in my space and my craftsmanship in relation to my work.” Each interior is lavish and ripe with plants, stone tiles, animals, and soft places to rest. Obscured by a half-opened door or fern front, these domestic spaces are fertile, offering room for contemplation, solitude, and imagination.

Several works shown here are included in Le Panache, which is on view through June 10. For more of De Bona’s marquetry, murals, and other projects, visit Instagram, and find prints in her shop.

 

“Sieste crapulence 5pm” (2022), straw marquetry, acrylic, and pigmented clay on wood, 61 x 50 centimeters

“Le Bouquet” (2023), acrylic, pigmented clay, and straw marquetry on wood, 60 x 42 centimeters

“La Poule” (2023), acrylic and straw marquetry on wood, 73 x 60 centimeters

Detail of “Le Bouquet” (2023), acrylic, pigmented clay, and straw marquetry on wood, 60 x 42 centimeters

Left: “Un Long Dimanche” (2022), acrylic and straw marquetry on wood, 68 x 56 centimeters. Right: “La Toilette” (2021), 50 x 100 centimeters

Detail of “Un Long Dimanche” (2022), acrylic and straw marquetry on wood, 68 x 56 centimeters

“Le Boudoir”

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Gem-Encrusted Creatures Encounter Otherworldly Ecologies in Jon Ching’s Vibrant Oil Paintings

“Arroyo.” All images © Jon Ching, shared with permission

A seahorse nestles in amongst cherry blossoms, and a cone of violet flowers morph from a glistening amethyst in Jon Ching’s uncanny ecologies. In jewel-toned oil paintings, the Los Angeles-based artist’s hybrid creatures sport regal headdresses or merge their bodies with gems and crystals. He often focuses on a central character in a contradictory environment, such as an owl among gourds, a flamingo wading between cacti in a wetland, or a bird hatching from a Fabergé egg.

Recently, Ching started creating what he describes as “quieter” compositions, panning out from central portraits to unveil the enigmatic wonder of nature as a whole. Landscapes and the details of the animals’ surroundings take precedence and sometimes border on optical illusions, like the luna moths tucked in with ginkgo leaves in “Nagamorphose” or a dewy spider web made of diamonds in “Arachnitite.” Increasingly highlighting species that are misunderstood or get a bad rap, his new paintings “are less about the animal itself and more about the beauty that exists in the world,” he says in a recent article in American Art Collector, sharing that he wants to “push back against our cultural biases about certain animals.”

Many of these pieces are part of Ching’s solo exhibition Terra Brio at Haven Gallery on Long Island, which continues through June 4. He also just released a print edition of “In Plain Sight,” which you can find in his shop. Discover more of his work on his website, and follow him on Instagram for updates and insights into his process.

 

“In Plain Sight”

“Cerebro”

“Sakura”

“Makali’i Rising”

“Nagamorphose”

“Trellis”

“Arachnitite”

“Prick”

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By Imprinting an Ornate Rug in Snow, Javier de Riba Draws Attention to Flora and Fauna Living in the Pyrenees

All images © Javier de Riba

Catalan artist Javier de Riba (previously) once again collapses the boundaries between public and private, this time by adding a cozy intervention to a frigid environment. “Canal Roya” imprints a swath of fresh snow with the artist’s signature ornate motifs to mimic a rug-like covering on the frozen landscape.

Completed in early April, de Riba created the work near the proposed location of an 8-kilometer cable car connecting ski resorts in Astún and Formigal. The project, which drew criticism for its enormous price tag and disastrous environmental effects, would likely have displaced many of the animals, plants, and other organisms that inhabit that region in the Pyrenees. Thanks to pushback from activists, though, construction has since been halted.

Find more of de Riba’s ephemeral gathering spaces on Behance and Instagram.

 

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Dilapidated Mom-and-Pop Shops Stand Alone in the Scottish Highlands in New Paintings by Andrew McIntosh

“Pentangle” (2023), oil on linen, 200 x 150 centimeters. All images courtesy of James Freeman Gallery, shared with permission

In Dreamers, Andrew McIntosh simultaneously conveys the plight and resilience of small businesses, rendering lone shops and inns among desolate landscapes. The Scottish artist (previously) often taps into nostalgia and the forgotten, and he’s known for using the highlands of his childhood as a backdrop for his mysterious scenes in oil paint.

This new body of work, which is on view this month at James Freeman Gallery, pits the inhospitable landscape against the needs of commerce with a heavy dose of irony. A travel agency towers above a small island requiring a trip by boat to reach, a tanning salon glows amid a foggy forest, and a lawnmower repair shop stands amid an overgrown field. Often outfitting the buildings with flaking paint, neon signs, and graffiti, McIntosh positions each as a relic of a former era, positing that like the Romantic notions of a wild, untamable nature becoming outmoded, so is “the postwar idealism” of capitalism and enterprise.

If you’re in London, stop by the gallery to see Dreamers from May 18 to June 10. Otherwise, find more on Instagram.

 

“Neptunes” (2023), oil on linen, 200 x 150 centimeters

“Newman Arms” (2023), oil on gesso panel, 40 x 30 centimeters

“Austin” (2023), oil on linen, 200 x 150 centimeters

“Paradise Travel” (2023), oil on linen, 150 x 130 centimeters

“Sunset Beach” (2023), oil on linen, 200 x 150 centimeters

“The Clock Inn” (2023), oil on gesso panel, 40 x 30 centimeters

“Zodiac” (2023), oil on linen, 200 x 150 centimeters

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Dilapidated Mom-and-Pop Shops Stand Alone in the Scottish Highlands in New Paintings by Andrew McIntosh appeared first on Colossal.

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Frenzied Emotions Swirl Through Changyu Zou’s Poetry-Inspired Illustrations

“Starry Bird 7.” All images © Changyu Zou, shared with permission

Tinged with magic and metaphor, the energetic illustrations by Savannah-based Chinese artist Changyu Zou are emotionally candid and reflect her reactions to verse. “I think poetry uses the most beautiful words to express what’s most real in the poet’s heart. Although these words sometimes are very abstract and not easy to understand, they can give me unlimited imagination,” she says, sharing that she tends to pull a few terms or phrases from a poem and then use those as the basis for her drawings.

Zou strives for an interplay between the original text and her visual language, which often relies on a feverish mishmash of figures and symbols. The mixed-media illustrations—she works with both digital and analog materials, including gouache, acrylics, crayons, colored pencils, and sometimes collaged details—draw directly from the Misty Poets, a tradition that emerged in defiance of the restrictive Cultural Revolution of 20th-century China and is characterized by its obscure haziness. This mysterious and indeterminate quality arises in Zou’s works as birds, human hands, cars, houses, and other objects appear to whirl in chaotic motion.

In addition to the Misty Poets, the illustrator mentions Kahlil Gibran, Haizi, and Rabindranath Tagore as influences. One line of Tagore’s “Starry Bird” reads “light in my heart the evening star of rest and then let the night whisper to me of love” and inspired Zou’s series by the same name. ” Because Tagore’s poetry expresses the harmony of life and nature, I chose elements for these to represent humans, such as cars and houses, and also elements that symbolize nature, such as birds,” she shares. “They are together on a planetary ring, expressing a state of harmony and love.”

Zou is preparing for a solo exhibition this fall, so keep an eye on her Instagram for news about that show and other projects. (via Creative Boom)

 

“Starry Bird 1”

“Plan Adviser 1”

“The World Remade”

“Starry Bird 6”

“Starry Bird 4”

“Plan Adviser 2”

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‘Drip! Drop! Slice!’ Bursts with Color and Texture Inside the You Are Beautiful Gallery

All images courtesy of You Are Beautiful Gallery, shared with permission

Oozing mounds, supple paper pods, and tightly coiled handles capture the vast range of color, texture, and shape within Drip! Drop! Slice! The first guest-curated exhibition at the You Are Beautiful Gallery and the project of Colossal’s founder and publisher Christopher Jobson, the show is vibrant and energetic as it brings several mediums and works by nine artists to the Chicago space. There are tufted tapestries by the anonymous Mz. Icar Collective, Brian Giniewski’s signature drippy pots, and a collection of wildly popular mugs from Lolly Lolly Ceramics, all of which exude the playful, optimistic tone of the You Are Beautiful message.

Find available pieces on the gallery’s site, and stop in to see the works in person through July 8.

 

Mz. Icar Collective

Lalese Stamps of Lolly Lolly Ceramics

Kassandra Guzman of Kuu Pottery

Brian Giniewski & Holly Jean Studios

Dan Lam

Adrianne Hawthorne of Ponnopozz

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article ‘Drip! Drop! Slice!’ Bursts with Color and Texture Inside the You Are Beautiful Gallery appeared first on Colossal.

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