Pattern Pulp

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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Taking the cues from the culture with this week’s gallery picks.

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1. Regarded as one of the most influential artists of our time, Mike Kelley produced a body of deeply innovative work mining American popular culture and both modernist and alternative traditions—which he set in relation to relentless self- and social examinations, both dark and delirious at MoMA
2. Ohtake’s works function as studies of materiality, form and process. They include drawings, collages and paintings as well as large-scale assemblage pieces that draw from the detritus of daily life, the urban environment and underground music culture at Take Ninagawa
3. A heightened palette in Judy Ledgerwood’s recent body of work alludes to Ledgerwood’s reflection on color’s social and cultural implications at Rhona Hoffman Gallery
4. Todd James’ latest show “Business as Usual” was titled as such due to James’ “perception that, despite recent apocalyptic fervor, the status quo maintains its dominance throughout the world” at Galeria Javier Lopez
5. JR asks us all to become the subject, protagonist, passer-by and interpreter in this global artwork at Lazarides Rathbone
6. Irving Penn: On Assignment is a survey of photographs, magazines and ephemera from the iconic American Photographer at Pace / MacGill Gallery

October 8, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Kapitza, Kickstarter & Pattern Inspo




Lately, I’ve been a bit of a serial Kickstarter supporter. It’s very inspiring to poke around the platform and see who’s doing what and which crazy new concept is coming to life.

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This morning, I backed Nicole and Petra Kapitza‘s latest book project, Geometric Two. These sisters are talented. They also share a serious love of pattern, design and geometry and run a multi-disciplinary design studio in London.

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They’re experts in their field and have an impressive track record with their previous pattern publications, Geometric and Organic.

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Their artworks are bright, colourful and minimalist, featuring abstract graphic art and flower illustrations in bold colour compositions and compelling arrangements.

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Kapitza have gained a global following in the design world for their inspirational pattern art books and picture fonts, which are available from their beautifully designed online shop. They also published the critically acclaimed book Geometric in 2008.

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Their deep love of nature is an ongoing concern, as can be seen in the ever growing Font and illustration collection, ‘We Love Nature’ and in their new project, Organic, which has been nominated for the Designs of the Year 2013 Award by the Design Museum London.

 

October 8, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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The artists in this week’s gallery picks effectively refine the beauty in contradictions.

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1. Augustine Kofie’s recent collection began with a series of small notes and doodles on found paper, “a usual task in the studio, but this go around I kept the idea in mind of sound structures and systems of reliability” at White Walls
2. Jason Yates’ work finds meaning and therefore truth in contradictions, a reflection of a culture chasing it’s own tail. The artist distills his punk aesthetic,editing out representational imagery,to find the essential at M.J. Briggs
3. In her work, Vadis Turner has created a visual language that re-imagines gender roles, rites of passage and the classification of heirlooms in a contemporary cultural context at Jack Geary Contemporary
4. Leonardo Ulian’s Sacred Space consists of a series of mandalas, a symbol from Hindu and Buddhist symbolism that represents metaphysical enlightenment, made entirely from meticulously arranged electronic components at Beers Contemporary
5. For Tim Biskup, a ‘charge’ can be harbored by things constantly rejected as too abstract, too small or too anomalous. Biskup acts as a physical receptor to these alternative cultures, by producing works that channel musicality and vibrancy into a stream of progressive Modernism at Martha Otero
6. Alyce Gottesman’s paintings and works on paper reflect the interconnectedness between nature, geometric forms and space. The work is at once both intuitive and analytical, while exploring a spiritual connection with nature at The Painting Center

October 1, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Artist Profile: Laura Callaghan




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Have you seen Laura Callaghan’s illustrations? They’re unique and interesting and filled with texture, gesture and attitude. I stumbled across her work by way of Gems, one of my favorite creative newsletters, and did an immediate deep dive into her site.

Check it out for yourself (and buy a print if you’re so inclined), as you’ll find intricate mixed media scenarios that test the limits of felt tip pens. Callaghan’s also the Illustration Editor of Oh Comely magazine and currently based in South East London. She’s a member of Illustrators Ireland and is currently taking on contract work both locally and abroad. Hit her up if you’ve got a good collaboration in mind!

 

September 26, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Opposing Worlds in Social Media




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These two are really the antithesis of each other- it’s almost comical to compare the stratospheres. Sean Williams, an exceptionally talented tattoo artist living in LA, recently posted his latest work to instagram. Take a deep dive into his reel, and while it’s rather dark, you’ll find beautiful illustrations and inticate body art.

Fast forward four minutes, and I’m looking at Facebook, then Refinery29’s piece on Erica Domesek of P.S I Made This. For those who are unaware, Erica is one of the internet queens of DIY replica fashion. My brain had a fission, but when you’re visual, you can’t deny the obvious comparison, and with social media, you also can’t control or avoid the stream coming at you. Alas, I’m sharing these military tassel themes.

Any odd but poignant compare/contrasts in your reels? Would love to see…

 

September 25, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tuesday's Gallery Picks




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In this week’s gallery picks, it’s all about how you orient yourself.

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1. Digital tools can both mimic material phenomena and become art historical reference points. Three artists trace image manipulation devices like paint-brush, gradient, and alpha-mask to produce works that translate emerging vocabularies of digital image production back into analog painting and sculpture at Suzanne Geiss
2. Ai Weiwei: According to What? examines how the artist spotlights the complexities of a changing world and probes such issues as freedom of expression, individual and human rights, the power of digital communication and the range of creative practice that characterizes contemporary art today both in China and globally at Art Gallery of Ontario
3. The group exhibition “Up in Smoke” is a reaction to the concept of a poem by Jack London at Greenpoint Terminal Gallery
4. Steven Hull continues to explore in the various ways that painting and sculpture overlawhere a flat image can appear to be dimensional, and a sculptural piece can feel image-based. By extension, we are led to consider the ways that our notions of these delineations are contingent, where received logic can be broken down by simple contextual shifts at Rosamund Felsen
5. Observed at a distance, each work presents a mesmerizing field of candy-colored pink, teal, lilac and sand, which appears to pulsate with energy. Only upon closer inspection does each burst of color transform from the abstract into figurative at Pace Gallery
6. Clive van den Berg looked to the diagrams and mapping techniques of archeologists and prospectors, and the resulting landscapes challenge our sense of perspective, and invite us to reconsider our orientation at Goodman Gallery

September 24, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Tracking Repetitive + Awesome.
On Instagram.