Fantastic Creatures and Common Animals Materialize in Miguel Arzabe’s Woven Bestiaries

“Animales Familiares,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 78 x 108 inches. All images © Miguel Arzabe, courtesy of Johansson Projects, shared with permission

In Miguel Arzabe’s bestiaries, wide-eyed owls, pink pumas, and whale sharks emerge from planes of woven acrylic. The Oakland-based artist draws on his Bolivian roots and Andean textile traditions as he laces strips of sliced paintings into landscapes occupied by creatures both real and mythological. Arzabe’s most recent body of work, Animales Familiares, brings these beasts to the fore through vivid planes of blurred Earth and sky.

The artist begins each piece by reproducing a pair of modernist paintings, which he cuts into thin lengths and weaves together. Most often unrecognizable in their new forms—Rothko’s clear influence in the color-blocked  “Tiburón Ballena” makes the piece an outlier—the replicas root the works in Western art history. Arzabe distorts these references, though, by layering the paintings into new landscapes, intertwining the varying geographies and cultures to allow both to coexist.

On view from September 16 to October 29 at Johansson Projects, Animales Familiares imagines creatures common to the planet and spiritual realm to consider “one’s place in the universe,” Arzabe says.  Find more of the artist’s work on his site and Instagram.

 

“Flamencos,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 56 x 78 inches

Detail of “Flamencos,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 56 x 78 inches

“Puma Roja,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 50 x 72 inches

“Tiburón Ballena,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 50 x 46 inches

Detail of “Animales Familiares,” woven acrylic on canvas and linen, 78 x 108 inches

“La Bestia del Progreso,” woven acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

“Nada De Nada,” woven acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60 inches

Arzabe at work

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Persian Carpets Merge With Crumbling Concrete in Jason Seife’s Elaborate Paintings

All images © Jason Seife, shared with permission

Using fine-tipped brushes to compose intricate details, Jason Seife (previously) reimagines Persian carpets as remarkable acrylic paintings. Over the past six years, he has increasingly incorporated concrete in place of canvas, inviting relief elements that gouge into the surface. “Each painting has its own set of obstacles,” he wrote recently on Instagram. “The sculptural elements, which add depth and texture to what is normally a very flat process, are some of my favorite parts of working with this material.”

Seife examines our associations around architecture and interior space, transferring patterns we normally see beneath our feet onto the wall. The chipped concrete evokes crumbling villas or excavated ruins, as if the carpets have melded with and grown into the architecture itself. In his recent exhibition at Pérez Art Museum Miami, the artist exhibited some of his largest works to date, incorporating colorful panels nestled within wallpaper-like botanical reliefs.

Find even more on Seife’s website.

 

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Hayao Miyazaki’s New Film ‘The Boy and the Heron’ Wanders Into a Magical World of Life and Death

All images © Studio Ghibli

Iconic Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki once again crafts an otherworldly landscape filled with mystery and wonder in his highly-anticipated new film, The Boy and the Heron. Nearing the end of his decades-long career, the Studio Ghibli (previously) director has hinted that this may be his last movie. As a result, an air of mystery has surrounded The Boy and the Heron for some time, but just this week, U.S. audiences were treated with an official trailer.

Upon this first look at footage, small blobbed creatures float into the sky, a woman liquifies to the touch, a large fire glows as it encases an inviting figure, and dozens of frogs clutch onto the protagonist. Viewers are welcomed into Miyazaki’s world imbued with hope, despair, creation, and fantastical encounters, all of which are familiar to Ghibli lovers and exhibit the enigmatic culmination of his legacy. Ultimately, the trailer leaves those watching with a mystifying final note, “Where death comes to an end, life finds new beginning.”

The Boy and the Heron is set to release in theaters nationwide on December 8.

 

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It’s a Zoo in Here! A Diverse Cast of Whimsical Animals by Yen Jui-Lin Emerge From Wood

All images © Yen Jui-Lin, shared with permission

Yen Jui-Lui instills a growing group of characters with playful wiles and whimsy in an ongoing series of wooden toys (previously). Just a few of the artist’s recent creations portray pudgy bears that double as receptacles for spare change or fruit, a downcast rabbit enduring an inner tube, and birds that sprout dried flowers from the tops of their heads. Using a variety of wood types local to his home in Taiwan, he repurposes segments of cypress, cinnamon, and beech, among others.

Yen is currently working on a series inspired by the zoo, which has been in progress for more than two years. “This series is not imitating real animals; it’s more reshaping the imagination of the animals in cute and interesting shapes,” he says. You can find more of the artist’s work on Instagram.

 

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Two Dozen Artists Gather a Diverse Flock of Avians at Brassworks Gallery for ‘Birds Rising’

Diana Sudyka. All images © the artists, shared with permission courtesy of Brassworks Gallery

Mixed-media pieces by two dozen artists take flight in Birds Rising at Brassworks Gallery in Portland, Oregon, this month. Curated by artist Heiko Müller, a vibrant selection of works take feathered creatures as a starting point, showcasing a range of styles that reference mythology, fairytales, and quickly-changing habitats. Works by Diana Sudyka, El Gato Chimney, and Caitlin McCormack—among many others—highlight a variety of media almost as diverse as the avian world itself.

Birds Rising opens with a preview on September 9, and you can find more information on the gallery’s website and Instagram.

 

Richard Ahnert

Alexandra Lukaschewitz

Eiko Borcherdin

Ki Sung Koh

Ana Juan

El Gato Chimney

Mario Klingemann

Ryan Heshka

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Ememem Playfully Revitalizes Cracked Pavement With Vibrantly Patterned Tiles

Lyon, France. All images © Ememem, shared with permission

No crack in a wall, step, or curb is safe from Ememem’s delightful interventions. The Lyon-based artist (previously), also known as “the pavement surgeon,” continues to scout out gaps in sidewalks that he fills with colorful tiles. Akin to kintsugi, the Japanese practice of repairing broken pottery with gold to embrace the history of the object, Ememem’s technique doesn’t hide imperfections so much as highlight their possibilities. While making the surfaces safer to traverse, he adds gives new life to decaying urban walkways.

Find more of the artist’s work on his website, and keep track of new pieces on Instagram.

 

Corse, France

Decazeville, France

Arles, France

Marseille, France

Modena, Italy

Nantua, France

Paris, France

Zagreb, Croatia

Zagreb, Croatia

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Enigmatic Wonder and Magic Envelop Sarah Lee’s Illuminated Landscapes

“Luna Moths” (2023), oil on canvas, 70 x 60 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller. All images courtesy of the artist and albertz benda, New York | Los Angeles, shared with permission

Mysterious magic emanates from Sarah Lee’s scenes. Often working at night in her East Village studio, Lee envisions quiet, unpopulated landscapes that become an escape from the electrifying energy of the city. Tempestuous storms, glowing Luna moths, and shooting stars enliven the serene vistas and illuminate what would otherwise be shrouded by the darkened skies. Each oil painting, rendered in a palette of cool tones, contains an element of surreal surprise, whether a graceful fowl floating on the clouds in “Black Swan” or a pocket of snowy earth opening to reveal the stars in “Among Trees.”

The works shown here are a fraction of those included in Lee’s solo show, Two Skies, on view now through October 14 at albertz benda in New York. Explore more of the artist’s work on her site and Instagram.

 

“Two Skies” (2023), oil on canvas, 70 x 80 inches. Photo by Adam Reich

“Rainbow” (2023), oil on canvas, 14 x 13 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

“Among Trees” (2023), oil on canvas, 50 x 52 inches. Photo by Adam Reich

“Black Swan” (2023), oil on canvas, 44 x 40 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

“Northern Lights” (2023), oil on canvas, 9 x 12 inches. Photo by Adam Reich

“Endless Night” (2023), oil on canvas, 70 x 80 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

“The Trees of Secrets” (2023), oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inches. Photo by Thomas Müller

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