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Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Florals and Landscapes Redefine Vintage Portraits in Han Cao’s Embroidered ‘Silhouettes’

“La Lucha.” All images © Han Cao, courtesy of Paradigm, shared with permission

Known for her signature embroidered photographs, Han Cao (previously) examines intersecting ideas of identity, memory, and nostalgia. In her new body of work, the artist begins with vintage images, replacing faces and garments with flowery landscapes and sweeping skies.

Comprising the exhibition Silhouettes at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, the portraits overflow with foliage, storm surf, and bucolic meadows. The show marks a new direction for Cao’s practice, expanding her interest in introspection and internalization, especially over time. She explores “how our sense of self can be affected by memory, social structures, and a connection to nature,” says a statement.

For the first time, Cao has produced double-portraits that incorporate the same photographs, scaled up and applied with the same embroidery patterns as the smaller original. She draws attention to the materiality of fiber, emphasizing how its detail and immediacy read differently depending on the size, inviting the viewer to consider similarities and differences between nearly identical representations.

Replacing faces with trees, fields, and surging waves, Cao visualizes the metaphorical emotional capacity of each figure, likening the depths of their memories, feelings, and thoughts to traversable terrain that is deep and lush with color. Cao says, “I am always trying to change the story of the photo, but this method allows me to transport the figure into a different world.”

Silhouettes is on view in Philadelphia through October 1. You can view and purchase pieces on the gallery’s website, and find more work from Cao on her site and Instagram.

“New Skies”

“A Self-Portrait Outside”

“Baret and the Bougainvillea”

“Jacaranda”

“Sweetheart”

“Surge”

“The Windswept Dreamers”

Detail of “The Windswept Dreamers”

Detail of “The Windswept Dreamers”

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 Florals and Landscapes Redefine Vintage Portraits in Han Cao’s Embroidered ‘Silhouettes’ appeared first on Colossal.

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In ‘American Grown,’ Tiffanie Turner Roots Out Personal Memories and U.S. Exceptionalism

“Excerpt from Still Life with flowers on a marble tabletop” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, and cardboard, 29 x 30.5 x 21.5 inches. All images © Shaun Roberts, shared with permission

In preparing for her newest body of work, Tiffanie Turner sowed three ideas: to expand the standard shapes of her sculptures, to draw underrecognized connections, and to unearth a long-held concern about American culture.

An architect by training, the artist (previously) is known for her incredibly lifelike paper flowers that explore beauty standards and aging through dramatic decay and flawed growths. Her interests in recent years have largely been universal, questioning the nature of imperfection and human vanity or the impending destruction caused by the climate crisis.

But in American Grown, Turner turns toward the personal. Two and a half years in the making, the series comprises ten massive sculptures made with the artist’s signature crepe-paper petals layered in dense masses. The flowers embody both an artistic challenge—one of the three principles behind the collection was to leave behind the circular, wall-mounted form in favor of more conical, gravity-defying constructions—and a deeply introspective look at Turner’s own life. “After spending over two years with this body of work, thinking almost every day about where this idea of the United States being ‘the greatest nation’ in the family I grew up in, I think I figured it out,” she tells Colossal, sharing that she’s circling around how American exceptionalism is deeply rooted in culture and often passed through generations.

The idea for this body of work came about during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic “when her shame about being an American was at an all-time high. A cartoon of an American was swirling in her head: a styleless, gun-loving, misogynistic, God-fearing racist,” a statement says. Like her earlier pieces, Turner returned to universality as she realized that these traits are not always unique to the U.S. Instead, she used that caricature as a starting point to explore this belief in superiority and to connect to “her childhood, comparing and contrasting the standards and safeguards around the raising of her two children with memories of her grandparents and parents, focusing on the past, present, and future, in the timeframe of 1950 to 2050.”

A pink paper flower with delicate petals

“Cockscomb Rose” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, spray paint, glue, wood rods, cardboard, and soft pastel, 45 x 36.5 x 20 inches

Ephemerality is inherent in Turner’s blossoms, as she preserves the fleeting state of freshness in paper. But where earlier works featured browning petals on the outer edges, those in American Grown are central. A dark rot emanates from the inside of “Excerpt from Still Life with flowers on a marble tabletop”—this piece takes its title from a Rachel Ruysch painting—while the base of the towering “Croquembouche” is laced with decay, suggesting that there’s something insidious not on the fringe but directly at the heart.

The final tenet of the series is discovery and connection. Turner references the two-headed “Cocksome Rose,” which resembles a fasciated strawberry of the same name, and her desire to draw similarities between disparate objects. Even if viewers don’t connect the two misshapen forms, she hopes that “they will still wonder about the piece, and perhaps find something in it that [the artist] hasn’t yet seen.”

American Grown will be on view from September 9 to October 21 at Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco. Head to Instagram to glimpse Turner’s process and follow updates on her work.

Two images, on the left a dying bouquet hangs on the wall with a dangling ribbon, on the right a detail of the dead, dried flowers

“Originalism (December 15, 1791 – present)” (2023), Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, floral wire, chalk, vintage flag pole holder, and ribbons, 15 x 23 x 14 inches

Two pink flowers grow left and right with smaller greenish blooms on top

“580085” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, cardboard, wood rods, and rubber balls, 33 x 32.5 x 15 inches

A white and black flower springs from the wall

“Byproduct/Burnt Offerings (Ranunculus)” (2022), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, and Quik-Tube, 29 3/4 x 27 inches

A tower of pink roses with dead flowers at the bottom

“Croquembouche” (2022), Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, floral wire, chalk, chicken egg shells, hat stand, metal platter on pedestal, and epoxy adhesive, 26 1/2 x 15 inches

“Did I Win?” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, steel aerialist hoop, and rope, 40 x 46 x 18 inches

A floral sculpture with pink and white petals

“The (Brown) Crown” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, wood rods, wood skewers, cardboard mailing tubes, basketball hoop frame, misc. hardware bits, bungee cords, and velcro, 38 x 32 x 38.5 inches

brown petals are intermixed with pink and white

Detail of “The (Brown) Crown” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, wood rods, wood skewers, cardboard mailing tubes, basketball hoop frame, misc. hardware bits, bungee cords, and velcro, 38 x 32 x 38.5 inches

Two pink flowers connected by lavender and white ribbon tied in a bow. the left flower is at full bloom and the right is decaying

“Soup to Nuts” (2023), paper mâché, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, wood rods, cardboard, and ribbons, 36 x 46 x 17 inches

A canonical flower with pink flowers rests on a table

A work-in-progress image of “IIndurate (of a size that is remarkable)” (2023), paper mâché, Sonotube, Italian crepe paper, stain, glue, cardboard, basketball hoop, metal rods, metal bits, wood rods, and wood strips, 46 x 28.5 x 57 inches

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 In ‘American Grown,’ Tiffanie Turner Roots Out Personal Memories and U.S. Exceptionalism appeared first on Colossal.

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Graham Franciose’s Otherworldly Watercolors Revel in Misty Forests and the Symbiosis of Nature

A painting of a felled tree in a forest, with the interior glowing and a small figure reaching out to touch it.

“For All Your Years.” All images © Graham Franciose, courtesy of Gallery Ergo, shared with permission

In watercolor and gouache, a world of wonder unfolds in surreal paintings by Graham Franciose (previously). In his current exhibition What Is Inside the Tree Is Inside of You, It’s Inside of Me at Gallery Ergo in Seattle, the artist considers the climate of the Pacific Northwest, where he’s lived since 2017 and regularly hikes through the region’s temperate rainforests. “The life-to-death-to-life cycle has never been more apparent and obvious to me as it is illustrated by the numerous ‘nurse logs’ you will encounter on most trails up here,” Franciose says in a statement. He continues:

A (nurse log is a) fallen tree, or stump of a giant logged tree that has, in its decomposition, nurtured new life into existence. A new sapling sprouts from the remains, and eventually its roots will reach the ground, and it will continue to grow up and around the deteriorating lump of organic matter that helped bring it into existence.

Franciose’s fascination with the circle of growth, decay, and regrowth led to a series of works that focus on the inherent symbiosis between humans and the rest of the natural world. Figures sit on enormous logs, sprout botanicals from their bodies, and reach out to commune with glowing annual growth rings in enigmatic, metaphysical narratives. He says, “The pieces in the collection of work are not really essays about this subject but more visual poems, with the underlying thread rooted in the connection we have with plants and animals and the natural world as a whole.”

More pieces from What Is Inside the Tree Is Inside of You, It’s Inside of Me can be viewed on the gallery’s website, and you can discover more work by Franciose on Instagram.

A painting of a figure floating above a tree stump with a plant growing out of their chest.

“A Dream of a New”

A painting of a bird with a flower coming out of its beak.

“Humble Seed to Last Leaf”

Two paintings of abstracted figures with cacti instead of heads, and animals on their laps.

Left: “Bloom Together.” Right: “I Will Hold Space for Your Tender Heart to Bloom”

A painting of a female figure carrying a flag and riding on the back of a wolf silhouetted in stars.

“The Arrival of the Sun”

A framed painting of a male figure with a misty forest on his head.

“What Could Be”

A painting of a small figure sitting on a large log with a glowing center.

“What Was and What Will Be”

A framed painting of a figure wearing a brimmed hat, with a flower growing out of their chest and a bird perched on the hat.

“Something Unexpected Emerged”

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 Graham Franciose’s Otherworldly Watercolors Revel in Misty Forests and the Symbiosis of Nature appeared first on Colossal.

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Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 Highlights Avian Attitudes and Winged Wonders Around the World

A Glistening-green Tanager framed in a big leaf.

Nicolas Reusens, “Glistening Green,” Glistening-green Tanager (Chlorochrysa phoenicotis), Mashpi Amagusa Reserve, Ecuador. Gold Award Winner: Best Portrait. All images © the photographers and Bird Photographer of the Year 2023

The judges of the 2023 Bird Photographer of the Year competition (previously) sifted through more than 20,000 images submitted from photographers around the globe. With lenses trained on a variety of avians and their habitats, the makers of this year’s winning images highlight diverse behavior, sizes, colors, and environments, from enigmatic and elusive species to familiar backyard friends.

Jack Zhi’s grand prize-winning image catches the dramatic moment that a Peregrine Falcon attacks a Brown Pelican in mid-flight. “I love the eyes of the pelican in this image: surprised and scared,” Zhi says. “The action was fast and over in the blink of an eye.” Other category winners include striking portraits and rare observations, like Nicolas Reusens’ Glistening-green Tanager framed in a tropical leaf, Rafael Armada’s capture of a tiny Sword-billed Hummingbird, or Henley Spiers’ underwater sighting of a Blue-footed Booby with a freshly-caught meal.

The 2024 contest is now open for entries on the organization’s website, where you can also browse a gallery of this year’s winning photos. Follow BPOTY on Instagram for more updates.

Qiuqing Mu, “A Mother’s Love,” Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), Zhejiang, China. Bronze Award Winner: Bird Behavior

Rafael Armada, “Flying Sword,” Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera), Bogotá, Colombia. Gold Award Winner: Birds in Flight

A black-and-white image of dead trees in water with a large bird at the base of the one of the trees.

Cheng Kang, “Morning Serenity,” Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae), Northern Country, Victoria, Australia. Bronze Award Winner: Black-and-white

A Brambling perched on the stem of a dead sunflower in winter.

Mateusz Piesiak, “Sunflower Paradise,” Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), Lower Silesia, Poland. Gold Award Winner: Birds in the Environment

A vertical view downward of six flying flamingos over a green expanse.

Paul Mckenzie, “Green Planet Flamingos,” Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), Lake Bogoria, Kenya. Silver Award Winner: Birds in Flight

Antonio Aguti, “No Way Out,” Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), Lake Chiusi, Italy. Gold Award Winner: Comedy Bird Photo

A Great Grey Owl perched on a headstone.

Arto Leppänen, “A Moment of Prayer,” Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa), Helsinki, Finland. Gold Award Winner: Urban Birds

A Peregrine Falcon attacking the head of a Brown Pelican in flight.

Jack Zhi, “Grab the Bull by the Horns.” Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), Southern California, United States. Gold Award Winner: Bird Behavior

A Blue-footed Booby underwater with a fish in its bill.

Henley Spiers, “Blue-Footed Fishing Dive,” Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii), Los Islotes, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Silver Award Winner: Bird Behavior

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 Bird Photographer of the Year 2023 Highlights Avian Attitudes and Winged Wonders Around the World appeared first on Colossal.

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We’re Giving Away an Art-Filled Weekend in Chicago

a trippy gif of blue, yellow, pink, and green squiggles

Image for Colossal by Dave Whyte

Dear Colossal readers,

We’re interrupting your regularly scheduled stream of art and visual culture to say thank you. Colossal turned 13 last month, and as we pass this milestone, we’re reflecting on how independent arts publishing has changed over the years. What began as a personal blog in 2010 has grown into a healthy arts publication covering creativity and natural beauty from every reach of the planet with several contributing writers and millions of monthly readers.

In the first half of 2023, we published more than 400 articles, held six conversations with world-renowned artists like Amy Sherald and Christoph Niemann, hosted five workshops with creatives from around the globe, and curated an exhibition at the Design Museum of Chicago. We’re so grateful to do the work we do, and none of it would be possible without your support, particularly that of Colossal Members who are the lifeblood of this publication. So thank you. Thank you for reading, for learning with us, and for reminding us each day that art is essential.

To celebrate, we’re giving away a fun, art-filled weekend in Chicago! Become a Colossal Member before Friday, September 15, and you’ll automatically be entered to win the following:

A two-night stay at 21c Museum Hotel
A $500 travel voucher
Tickets for two to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Art Institute of Chicago
A tour of Colossal’s exhibition At the Precipice at the Design Museum of Chicago
A signed limited-edition print from Chicago-based artist Liz Flores

All new Colossal Members will also receive a one-time discount for BLICK Art Materials and all of the popular perks like an ad-free reading experience, access to our Workshop Library, and an exclusive monthly newsletter with news, early registration, and plenty of giveaways.

No matter your level of support, we’re so glad you’re out there reading.

—Christopher, Grace, Kate, and Jackie

Become a Colossal Member.

a bean-shaped public art sculpture in chicago

NO PURCHASE OR CONTRIBUTION NECESSARY. Open to residents of the U.S. who are 18 years of age or older. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes expires 9/15/2023. See Official Rules.

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 We’re Giving Away an Art-Filled Weekend in Chicago appeared first on Colossal.

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Hyperrealistic Portraits Burst Into Botanical Shards in Vibrant Murals by Ratur

A mural of a young woman with leaves bursting from her head and shoulders.

As if made of porcelain or glass, the monumental, serene faces of Arthur Maslard’s subjects fragment into sharply contrasted leaves. The French artist, also known as Ratur, draws on a background in graphic design and intimacy with nature to blend realistic features with fantastical, botanical explosions and abstract fields of color. “Every wall is challenging and different!” he says. “There is always a part of improvisation and adaptation. I would say that the most constraining factor is time.”

Maslard counts Hungarian painter István Sándorfi among his influences, honing the detailed interaction of light with flesh and folds of fabric. He often works alongside his brother Oscar, known as SCKARO, to realize hyperrealistic imagery portraying what Ratur describes as “humans faced with a nature in ruin, mythical figures, and symbols of perpetual rebirth.”

Ratur’s next project takes him to Sand City, California, for the West End Mural Festival in October. Explore more work on his website, and follow updates on Instagram.

Untitled (2023), Annemasse, France

“Renaissance” (2020), Rouen Impressionnée Festival, Rouen, France

A mural on a stack of shipping containers portraying a man in yellow sunglasses, with leaves bursting from his head and shoulders.

“Summer Vibe” (2023), North West Walls Festival, Belgium

A mural featuring oranges, leaves, and abstract shapes.

“Innate Connection” (2021), Vancouver, B.C., Canada

“Sweet Life” (2023), Great Falls, Montana, U.S.A.

A mural of a young woman with leaves bursting from her head.

“Daphné” (2020), Dijon, France

An indoor mural of abstract shapes and colorful flowers and leaves.

“Above It All” (2022), Vancouver, B.C., Canada

A mural of two hands with fingers interlaced, with leaves bursting from them.

“Together” (2021), Paris, France

A mural on a side of a building at the end of a row of buildings in France, featuring oranges with blue leaves.

“L’Oranger” (2021), Saint Brieuc, France

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 Hyperrealistic Portraits Burst Into Botanical Shards in Vibrant Murals by Ratur appeared first on Colossal.

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The Other Art Fair Returns to Los Angeles for Its 10th Edition

Four people hold up art at a fair

The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art, has been nurturing its artist-led event for 70 global editions, serving visitors with surreal experiences and accessible art. The upcoming Los Angeles fair at the Barker Hangar from September 21 to 24 marks ten editions in the city, so celebrations are mandatory. Tickets are available now.

The Other Art Fair’s adoration of L.A. is rooted in the people. The passion locals have to discover art in new ways is unmatched, and this edition hopes to prove no exception. Here are ten reasons why you need a ticket…

10. You can have your photograph taken by a Grey’s Anatomy actor-turned-artist. It’s time to unleash your inner animal as the fair welcomes photographer Charles Michael Davis as its Guest Artist. Each solo photo session will result in one unmasked and one animal-masked action shot—directed and shot by Charles himself.

9. Get a personalized haiku written just for you based on any word or phrase you offer the in-house poet. It’s written art, curated by you!

8. Discover the wonder of light and color in a cosmic light bath installation—a truly “you had to be there” experience.

7. Let fate decide in a mystical fortune-telling experience doused in neon for good measure (and for posting, of course).

6. Peruse art after your drinks are poured. The bar inside the fair offers a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to enjoy while you browse.

5. Become the artist by making your very own risograph print at the Print Shop LA workshop space.

4. Kick off the weekend with the feel-good vibes of dublab’s vinyl-only DJs.

3. Become the artist again. Delight in the joys of analog with a Polaroid embroidery workshop.

2. Embrace the rebel spirit with a new exhibition, Acts of Liberation, guest curated by Taylor Bythwood-Porter.

1. Now to the core of what makes The Other Art Fair, well, other. Unlike the usual gallery-led fairs, this event allows you to meet 140 up-and-coming artists. Artists who work with paint, clay, and even pillows (yes, that’s right) will be selling original work from $100. Your home is about to get a lot more interesting.

To learn more and get tickets, visit theotherartfair.com.

people browse an art fair

people talk at an art fair

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 The Other Art Fair Returns to Los Angeles for Its 10th Edition appeared first on Colossal.

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