The Adorably Whimsical ‘Deer Train’ Transports Visitors to Japan’s Famed Nara Park

All images courtesy of Marei/@mareiii04, shared with permission

Sacred in the Shinto religion and an officially designated national treasure, the deer in Nara, Japan, are widely known for roaming a public park and bowing for treats—although the animals in recent years have been dubbed the “devious deer” because of their increasingly demanding behavior.

Those traveling to the region to fawn over the uncharacteristically mannered creatures can now ride in an equally adorable coach. Operated by Kintetsu Railways, the Deer Train is decked out with lush, spotted seats, grassy flooring, handles shaped like pudgy animals, and illustrations by Tokyo-based artist Gemi that transform the cars into a whimsical, cervine world.

The specially designed transit started operating in late 2022 and runs between Nara, which is about 45 minutes south of Kyoto via rail, and Sannomiya. (via Spoon & Tamago)

 

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Quirky Collections of Found Objects Preoccupy the Anatomical Sculptures of EMXW’s ‘Heads’

All images © EMXW, shared with permission

If you’ve ever felt like your head is full of cotton—or sea shells or dryer lint—well, you’re not alone. For the better part of a decade, Chicago-based artists Edwige Massart and Xavier Wynn (previously) have been creating sliced sculptural skulls full of everything from yarn and river rocks to crayon tips, shattered car windows, circuit boards, and sleeping pills. The occupied minds are part of the ongoing series Heads, which distills the complexities of relationships into dense, topographical psyches.

Working as EMXW, the duo begins each piece with a mishmash of found objects that together, create a narrative or “topic of conversation.” They each create simultaneously, adding red LEGO for teeth or shaping a jawbone with the broken handle of a cup to render a thematic collection that relates to an imagined dialogue between the two. The resulting works are playful and rich with texture and color as they explore the inner workings of the mind and the unique makeup of our emotional landscapes.

Some of EMXW’s most recent sculptures are on view through the end of the month at Gallery 901 in Evanston, Illinois. Find more of the duo’s work on Instagram.

 

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An 18th-Century Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Honors the Groundbreaking Artist Elizabeth Blackwell

Quince. All images courtesy of Abbeville Press, shared with permission

Slices of quince revealing tiny seed pockets, serrated dandelion leaves cradling spindly stems, and juicy elderberries growing in dense clusters are a few of the specimens that intrigued Elizabeth Blackwell (1699–c. 1758). An always passionate artist living during a time that saw a burgeoning interest in the natural world, Blackwell illustrated a thick, detailed compendium of approximately 500 plants and their properties to aid doctors and medical professionals in treatment.

Titled A Curious Herbal: Elizabeth Blackwell’s Pioneering Masterpiece of Botanical Art, the book today is hailed for both its exquisitely detailed renderings and the fact that it’s the first of its kind created by a woman. Abbeville Press released the first modern edition earlier this year, finally granting Blackwell long-deserved recognition and offering today’s readers a chance to peek inside the vivid, botanical encyclopedia.

Artistically talented and ambitious, Blackwell first got the idea for A Curious Herbal when she needed to make money after her husband was jailed in a debtor’s prison. The project was all-encompassing, with the artist not only researching, drawing, hand-coloring the printing plates, and writing the descriptions for each specimen but also selling the book herself.

In addition to undertaking such a herculean amount of work, Blackwell was doing so at a time when women were largely barred from scientific institutions and medical professions. Given its commercial success, A Curious Herbal was not only a creative feat but also a social one, emphasizing the value of women’s knowledge and artistic output particularly as it related to male-dominated fields.

A Curious Herbal is available now on Bookshop. (via Hyperallergic)

 

Dandelion

Love apple, a.k.a. tomato

Cacao

Left: Garden radish. Right: Elecampane

Elder

Creeping birthwort

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A 12-Meter-High Wedding Cake by Joana Vasconcelos Rises From the Grounds of an English Estate

Photo by Chris Lacey. All images © A Rothschild House and Garden and Atelier Joana Vasconcelos, courtesy of Waddesdon Manor, shared with permission

Nearly five years in the making, a 12-meter-high confectionary has emerged on the grounds of the sprawling Waddesdon Manor in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos (previously) designed an enormous “Wedding Cake” pavilion to sit near the 19th-century Dairy, which was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild to entertain guests, drawing on the location’s history of charming visitors and providing an architectural focal point within the expansive parkland.

“Wedding Cake” playfully avails itself of the architectural legacy of follies, a type of building constructed primarily for decoration, with famous examples like Marie Antoinette’s hamlet at Versailles or the Dunmore Pineapple in Scotland. Vasconcelos’ design was inspired by Baroque style, Waddesdon Manor’s reputation for events and hospitality, and the symbolism and traditions of the sweet treat through time.

Commissioned by the Rothschild Foundation, the three-layered cake is clad entirely in ornate ceramic tiles, a craft tradition rooted in Vasconcelos’ home in Lisbon. Pâtisserie-worthy adornments like fish diving into shell bowls and corniced platforms complement lacy ironwork and pastel hues. Part sculpture and part building, the immersive installation invites visitors to walk up winding inner stairwells and traipse around the tiers.

See more of the artist’s work on her website and Instagram. (via Dezeen)

 

Photo by Chris Lacey

Left: Photo by Lionel Balteiro. Right: Photo by Chris Lacey

Photo by Lionel Balteiro

Photo by Chris Lacey

Photo by Lionel Balteiro

Photo by Chris Lacey

Photo by Chris Lacey

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Three Bolts of Lightning Simultaneously Strike the Chicago Skyline During a Wild Summer Storm

Image © Barry Butler, shared with permission

Lightning might never strike the same place twice, but in Chicago this last week, it did strike three spots at the same time.

During the early hours of July 29, a volatile storm rolled into the Midwestern city, and photographer Barry Butler hunkered down west of the skyline to watch the action. “The skyscrapers in our town were getting battered with lightning. I thought it was just a matter of time before all three of the main skyscrapers in Chicago got it simultaneously,” he told PetaPixel. “The storm was too active for not to happen.”

Around 12:30 a.m., Butler was proved right and snapped a photo of the bolts illuminating the summer sky and hitting the city’s three tallest buildings, including the John Hancock Center and Willis Tower. While capturing three strikes in a single shot is already rare, this photo is even more stunning considering that, due to Lake Michigan, most storms wane or change direction before reaching downtown.

Find more images from the storm on Butler’s Instagram.

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Community and Connection Center in Damien Cifelli’s Portraits of a Fictional World

“Greengrocer at Crow Road Market.” All images © Damien Cifelli, shared with permission

“I think it says a lot about humans that we have been creating alternative worlds as long as we have been around, whether it’s a way of escaping our reality or thinking of new ways of living,” says Damien Cifelli. From a stoic greengrocer to a gathering of friends to a bored shop clerk, vibrant colors illuminate a stylish cast of characters in the London-based artist’s paintings.

Cifelli’s work revolves around a fictional world called “Tarogramma,” drawn from his experiences traveling and living abroad, and many of the pieces shown here are part of the artist’s solo exhibition Welcome to Tarogramma at Moosey. “As a kid, I was fascinated by adventure novels, explorers, and the idea of discovering a new place,” he tells Colossal.

I love seeing the distinct visual cultures that are built up and refined over generations. There is meaning behind everything. It’s so nuanced, it would take forever to really understand it all. I realised that if I created my own world, based on my own history and ancestral stories, I could use it as a vessel for all the ideas I have.

Cifelli approaches his practice through narrative, primarily focused on painting but often incorporating additional elements like wood sculptures, clay reliefs, scarves, banners, badges, pins, architectural models, and sound. Tarogramma is “a fictional land with a detailed culture and its own aesthetic, way of living, and understanding of the world,” Cifelli tells Colossal. “The paintings are a visual representation of the place and the people, like documentary images of a new world.”

Welcome to Tarogramma is on view in London through August 31, and you can find more of Cifelli’s work on his website and Instagram.

 

“Downtable”

“Higher Ground General Store”

“The Cup Final (Pre-Game)”

“May You Live in Interesting Times”

“Dinner at the False Idol”

“Summiting Taro Mountain”

“The Congress (This New World Needs a Name)”

“Too Much Love”

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A Brief Lesson Explains the Art Historical Shift to Painting Everyday People

Evan Puschak of Nerdwriter brings us another dose of art history as he explains a profound shift in Western painting traditions. The insightful “Bruegel: Birth Of A New Genre” video explains how many works made prior to the 16th century dealt with religious and mythic themes or were portraits of the elite, all commissioned by the church or wealthy patrons. Protestant reforms in the church, political revolution, and a rise in the merchant class shifted the economic makeup, culture, and values, and as generally happens, art reflected this change. Painters like Pieter Bruegel The Edler began to render scenes and people that better captured this reality, focusing on the daily lives of regular people.

You also might enjoy Pushack’s lesson on realistic impressionism. (via Kottke)

 

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