‘Abandoned Theatres’ Spotlights the Remains of Small-Town Midwestern Cinemas

All images © Ben Geier, shared with permission

Like many sectors of the U.S. economy, movie theaters struggled during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many were forced to shut their doors after months of lockdown, an additional blow to the small, independently run spots that had been competing with multiplex chains for decades.

When the pandemic hit, Ben Geier already had his eye on local cinemas, particularly those in Midwestern areas that closed years before. He photographed the remains for Abandoned Theatres, an ongoing series that’s both a nostalgic and clear-eyed look at small-town life. As more cinemas shuttered in 2020, Geier’s subject matter became more abundant. “Covid times really allowed me to get out on the road and photograph most of the theatres without anybody around, which gave each photo an eerie quality,” he tells Colossal.

Primarily shot straight on, the images document remnants and what are now relics of an earlier era: painted plywood covers the spot where a poster once hung, metal gates rest along a drive-in wall, and a marquee advertises the phone number of the movie hotline. So far, the series includes about 20 locations with a wide variety of architecture, from the classic State Theatre to the old-world farmhouse style of the Delft.  “I really enjoy rural America and the roadside aesthetic from the ’50s to ’80s, and there’s still a lot of it hiding in small towns, so I try my best to photograph it while it’s still around,” he says. “I have a lot of interests, and the Abandoned Theatre series seemed like a perfect blend of so many of them: Americana, architecture, and neon signs.”

Geier, who’s based in Batavia, Illinois, will be traveling throughout the Southwest U.S. in the coming months, in part, to scout theatres to add to the series. You can find more of his work, including a collection that peers inside a house with impeccably preserved 1960s charm, on Behance and Instagram. (via Present & Correct)

 

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In Macro Photos, Barry Webb Captures the Fleeting, Otherworldly Characteristics of Slime Molds and Fungi

Didymium squamulosum with ice crown. All images © Barry Webb, licensed

Photographer Barry Webb (previously) continues his hunt for the speckled, glimmering, and ice-crested organisms that pop up near his home in South Buckinghamshire, U.K. Armed with a 90-millimeter macro lens, Webb ventures into woodlands and other natural areas where slime molds and fungi thrive. There, he zeroes in on their microscopic features, documenting their wildly diverse characteristics that often last for just a brief moment in time. Recent shots include a tuft of Muppet-like fuzz topping Metatrichia floriformis, a water droplet suspended between two cup-like Craterium minutum, and a cluster of Pink stemonitis filaments propped on spindly black legs.

Webb has won several awards in recent months, including from the Royal Photographic Society and Close-Up Photographer of the Year. Four of his photos will be featured at the Vienna Mushroom Festival next month, prints are available on his site, and you can find more of his work on Instagram.

 

Metatrichia floriformis and physarum

Cribraria

Pink stemonitis

Craterium minutum

Leocarpus fragilis

Holly parachute fungus, Marasmius hudsonii

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Nick Gentry’s Technological Portraits Broach the Artificiality of Online Identities

“Mask 1” (2023), used VHS cassette tapes, spray paint, and oil paint on wood, 20.5 x 29.5 inches. All images © Nick Gentry, courtesy of Robert Fontaine Gallery, shared with permission

In Skin Deep, Nick Gentry probes the “chasm between real and online personas.” Working on painted backdrops of outdated technology like floppy disks and VHS tapes, the artist invites questions that are uniquely contemporary, asking about performance and presentation on the internet, increasingly artificial standards of beauty, and the instability of memory over time.

Diverging from his earlier portraits that were more faithful to a subject’s likeness, Gentry’s new body of work is deeply influenced by the virtual. He often paints his figures in grayscale, leaving them devoid of defining characteristics, and uses the tape’s plastic reels to highlight their eyes. This melding of human and machine elicits the cold, detached feeling associated with a cyborg and emphasizes the synthetic, masked nature of online identities. Given the irrelevance of the once-groundbreaking technology, the portraits also speak to the inevitable shifts in importance and how information is stored, shared, and remembered.

Skin Deep is on view through September 30 at Robert Fontaine Gallery in Miami Beach. You can find more from Gentry on his site and Instagram.

 

“Replicant 3” (2023), used VHS cassette tapes, spray paint, and oil paint on wood, 20.5 x 29.5 inches

“Viewing Figures” (2022), used VHS cassette tapes and paint on wood, 25 x 37 inches

“Skin Deep” (2023), used VHS cassette tapes, spray paint, and oil paint on wood, 45 x 45 inches

“Analogue Montage Number 1” (2023), used VHS cassette tapes, spray paint, and oil paint on wood, 32.25 x 37 inches

Left: “The Fool” (2023), used VHS cassette tapes, spray paint, and oil paint on wood, 10 x 9 inches. Right: “Populous” (2023), used computer disks and oil paint on wood, 37 x 28 inches

“Binary” (2021), used floppy disks and paint on wood, 19 x 32 inches

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Beastly Snouts Nose Into Kathryn Reid’s Playful Ring Collection

Bull. All images © Kathryn Reid

Kathryn Reid toys with the idea of a nose ring in her collection of muzzle designs, no piercing required. Working from her family farm in Northern Ireland, Reid creates playful, cheeky rings with wrinkled skin and nostrils of common livestock like horses, cows, and bulls. The silver, gold, and mixed-metal pieces are entirely hand-crafted and all based on animals the designer has known personally, including her beloved pup, Theo.

Although the nose rings are currently sold out, Reid frequently shares news about shop restocks, along with glimpses into her process, on Instagram.

 

Horse

Dog

Dog

Cow

Bull

Cow

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Brief Bouts of Mischief: David Zinn’s Chalk Drawings Imbue Everyday Street Scenes with Playful Character

All images © David Zinn, shared with permission

Since 1987, Ann Arbor-based artist David Zinn (previously) has gathered a diverse and humorous cast of characters on the sidewalks, streets, and walls of his hometown. In some of his newest works, a tiny tomfool alien explodes a load of asphalt with the push of a button, a dandelion lights the candle of a young dino’s cake, and an unenthused amphibian with “resting frogface” peers from a hole in some mortar.

Zinn recently published two books, including The Chalk Art Handbook, a how-to guide for creating temporary chalk art in public places, and Chance Encounters, showcasing numerous examples of his interventions over the years. Find more of the artist’s work on his website, and follow along on Instagram as he transforms more hidden corners of his community.

 

 

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Through Spliced Stone and Crystalline Patches, Massimiliano Pelletti Brings a Contemporary Touch to Antiquity

“Optical Venus” (2022), emerald and ochre onyx, 44 x 24 x 28 centimeters. All images © Massimiliano Pelletti, courtesy of Bowman Sculpture Gallery, shared with permission

Undulating stripes of emerald and ochre, spliced sections of sodalite and Mexican white onyx, and dense, glimmering patches of crystalline stone characterize Massimiliano Pelletti’s elegant sculptures. The Italian artist (previously) is known for his distinctly contemporary interpretations of classical statues that highlight imperfections, fallibility, and convergence. “Pink Eros,” for example, depicts the god of love through a typically smooth carving that’s met with a jagged midsection and shoulder. Two other “Venus” works combine segments of stone in herringbone, pixelated, and striped patterns that meld the subject matter of antiquity with more modern motifs.

Many of the sculptures shown here will be on view in October for Pelleti’s solo show, Eredità, at Bowman Sculpture Gallery in London. Included is “White Noise,” a new bust that appears wrapped in a gauzy veil and evokes the towels the artist uses in his studio to cover finished works so that they’re protected from dust. He explains:

I always find myself looking at those covered figures that do not have their physiognomic characteristics visible. I am fascinated by them because even if they are covered, you can still read the outlines of their physical shape, leaving more room for imagination… I decided to create some of my artworks in their veiled version. The world of contemporary art is one in which appearance often reigns at the expense of substance. I wanted to allow the viewer to see beyond the veil that is both a visual reality and a metaphor for a mental barrier.

Following Eredità, Pelleti will open an exhibition at Galleria Doria Pamphilj that, for the first time in the space, will pair a contemporary artist’s work with those of greats like Caravaggio, Titian, and Raphael. Follow news about those shows and keep up with the artist’s latest projects on Instagram.

 

“Pink Eros,” pink onyx, 85 centimeters

“Dreaming of Olympia,” 96 x 70 x 47 centimeters

“White Horizon,” sodalite and Mexican white onyx

“Polychrome Venus,” white onyx, sodalite, and volcano onyx, 49 x 40 x 40 centimeters

“White Noise,” Mexican white onyx, 54 x 50 x 32 centimeters

“River,” white onyx and emerald onyx

Detail of “Dreaming of Olympia,” 96 x 70 x 47 centimeters

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A New USPS Collection Enlarges the World’s Tiniest Lifeforms to the Size of a Postage Stamp

All images courtesy of USPS

One of the newest releases from the U.S. Postal Service features creatures so microscopic they’re too small for even the back of a postage stamp. Released earlier this month, the Life Magnified collection contains 20 of the world’s tiniest living forms, from a cluster of supple red blood cells and a single strand of fibrous hair to the sprawling network of mouse brain neurons. While most stamps shrink a photo or illustration to fit within the confines of the rectangular sticker that’s less than an inch wide, this series enlarges the images to reveal the infinitesimal in striking, vivid detail.

Included in Life Magnified are several scientists and photographers featured on Colossal, including Igor Siwanowicz (previously) and Jason Kirk (previously). Shop the collection at USPS.

 

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