Pattern Pulp

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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This week’s gallery picks explore communication through patterns and symbols.

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1. This epic show takes Kazimir Malevich’s radical painting of a black square – first shown in Russia 100 years ago – as the emblem of a new art and a new society. The exhibition features over 100 artists who took up its legacy. Their paintings, photographs and sculptures symbolize Modernism’s utopian aspirations and breakdowns at White Chapel Gallery
2. Diedrick Brackens’ frenetic textiles combine painting and sculpture, West African weaving and European tapestry, blunder and intention, domesticity and the wilderness of the imagination at Johansson Projects
3. Artist and filmmaker Thomas Campbell is internationally known for his artwork combining colorful renderings of figurative characters against bold graphic backdrops and a vocabulary of positive affirmations scrawled in a unique stylistic hand that often results in profound and inspiring views of human nature at Bolinas Museum
4. Hayal Pozanti has created a cipher system, titled “Instant Paradise,” whereby numbers and letters from the English language are replaced by her own iconic alphabet. Through this encryption, Pozanti’s works explore the polemics of communication, examining the privatization of information and the dissemination of data in the Internet age at Jessica Silverman Gallery
5. Hadieh Shafie layers thousands of strips of hand painted paper, which are the rolled into schools and placed within a frame or stacked flat. Persian words like eshgh (“love”) are inscribed and often concealed within the layers of paper, referencing the meditating practices of Sufism at Leila Heller Gallery
6. Mossy Cloak, curated by Third Object, is a group exhibition of work in photography, painting, sound and sculpture from six artists. It examines the layered vocabularies of camouflage, exploring its role as a visual surface patterning and as metaphor for social and historical concealment at Roots & Culture

 

March 3, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Catherine Cordasco's Curious Creatures




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New Yorkers are exposed to cool, minimalist, witty graphics on a daily basis. Whimsey isn’t always a part of the repertoire. That is, unless we’re wandering into a French bistro, a clothing store – or onto Catherine Cordasco’s illustration site.

Cordasco is based in France, and has a soft whimsical style that feels in-line with her local contemporaries. Her illustrations are loose and fluid with playful directives. Her animals are set in everyday situations in fully patterned regalia, parading as stylish city dwellers with an otherworldly casual vibe. The drawings are beautiful and delicate with purposeful gesture and negative space. While I’m new to Cordasco’s work, I’m very much a fan, and would love to see product collaborations with these adorable characters. What do you think?

 

March 2, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Friday Quick Links!




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1. Great photography from the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards via Colossal
2. Rebecca Clark’s delightful artwork via design*sponge
3. Adoring these prints by Paule T.B. for Noemiah via Poppytalk
4. How awesome is this pavilion via The Fox is Black
5. A graveyard for rejected artwork via Recently Rejected
6. Burly beards and furry critters via Trendland
7. Swooning over Jenny Andrew Anderson’s sense of color via Design Crush
8. Digging Katie Scott’s illustrations via design is mine
9. Simply stunning hand beaded Yoruba chairs from Nigeria via Honestly WTF
10. Mary Laube’s colorful paintings via The Artful Desperado
11. Fun pom pom wall hanging project via A Beautiful Mess
12. Fascinated by Ernest Zacharevic’s street art via Yatzer

Contributed by Emily Gup

February 27, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Paridust: Where Fashion Meets Art




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I stumbled upon Pari Ehsan’s instagram feed last night while procrastinating before bed. I clicked on her photo, and was completely taken by the art and color fields that followed.

Ehsan claims the stark minimalism that’s synonymous with gallery spaces. She merges herself within geometric rooms to create energy between herself, her outfits and the objects. Her presence paired with the square layout of Instagram produces a story – one that’s thoughtfully aware, if not a bit reserved. The minimalism or maximalism used in the styling works beautifully in the series. Here are a few personal favorites, but have a look at her website – it’s an interesting take on pop culture, fashion and the art world.

 

February 27, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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The artists in this week’s gallery picks feature portraiture as a means of exploring heritage and storytelling.

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1.In Alex Katz’s new work, rather than filling each frame, the subjects are assigned to the margins with black space occupying most of each canvas. What is striking about these new portraits is both the depth and diversity of the black paint contrasted against the dramatically studio-lit figures. Presented within a ‘widescreen’ format, the figures become both cinematic and theatrical, resembling performers caught mid-motion by a spotlight at Timothy Taylor Gallery
2. Vanessa Prager’s “imagined” portraits cross the border between the figurative and the abstract with diplomatic immunity. “I made this series to tell stories and as with any story, you need to zoom-in to get the details and zoom-out to grasp the larger thematic concerns.” at Richard Heller Gallery
3. The work of painter and sculptor America Martin is informed by both her Colombian lineage and strong affinity for modernism allowing for a dynamic interplay between cultures, styles, and techniques. Her new series explores familiar themes and subjects within Martin’s practice – female nudes, scenes of musicians, and portraits of indigenous peoples – in oversized depictions that are both iconic and enigmatic, inviting the viewer to further inquiry  at JoAnne Artman Gallery
4. Hung Liu’s artistic practice investigates the complex interactions between individual memory and history, and documentary evidence and artistic expression, among other themes. Her richly-rendered paintings are vivid and powerful, their subjects drawn from personal experience, cultural and political events, literature, and photography at Palm Springs Art Museum
5. Lynnea Holland-Weiss’ exhibition Unfold All Over is filled with large figurative paintings full of mood, color and pattern that delve into our human instincts and the mystery of being at Store 1026
6. Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture at Brooklyn Museum

February 24, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Luke Archer's Natural Markings




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In the world of composition, inspiration and random pen marks, Luke Archer excels at all. His style incorporates natural stone surfaces, silhouettes, tools and machines to create uniquely patterned prints. Subtle and texture-filled, Archer’s style is reminiscent of a moving wave in the fashion world – one that cues the 80’s and early 90’s. It merges old school marbling techniques with clean-edged geometry – and brands like Acne, Aritzia and American Apparel have all been a part of resurrecting this style. To deep dive into Archer’s portfolio, click here. To see some other interesting interpretations, check out Jen Altman, Santtu Mustonen and Lisa Toff.

 

February 23, 2015 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tracking Repetitive + Awesome.
On Instagram.