Gah! So smart! This is the work of Buenos Aires based collage artist Paulina Alonso… one found image and some crumpled paper, and voila, a brand new {very dramatic} story in every single piece. Love, love, LOVE.

{Found via the Edinburgh Collage Collective on Instagram}

Now this is some very exciting art news! It was announced yesterday that Simone Leigh has been chosen to represent The United States at the Venice Biennale in 2022. She will be the first Black American woman to showcase her work in the US Pavilion {Shocking? Yes… but also no. Sigh.} Simone’s work is “informed by her ongoing exploration of black female-identified subjectivity. Leigh works in a mode she describes as auto-ethnographic. Her objects often employ materials and forms traditionally associated with African art; her performance-influenced installations create spaces where historical precedent and self-determination commingle.” {Hauser + Wirth}… I cannot wait to experience those spaces in person! Here’s the message Simone posted on Instagram yesterday after the announcement was made:

To be the first Black American woman to occupy the American Pavilion for the 58th La Biennale di Venezia is a great honor. I acknowledge the paradox of my position during this time when the depth of white supremacy in America is in full view. I also recognize that this is a time when black artists and intellectuals of the diaspora are flourishing and have reached critical mass.
My show, comprised primarily of sculpture, will engage the work of black feminist thinkers who have enlarged and transcended the limits of this democracy. Thank you Eva Respini my curator @curator_on_the_run  @icaboston , my gallery @hauserwirth , and Spelman College @spelman_college

Congratulations, Simone… so exciting, and very well-deserved. {Both bio photos above by Shaniqwa Jarvis.}

California based artist Lilian Martinez. A few of the images above are from her past shows at Ochi Gallery in LA, and this is the gallery’s description of her work:

“Lilian Martinez’ work blends representation and iconographies of past with present and imaged future, combining classical architectural elements with contemporary pop cultural references to create the settings for her portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. Her flat, bold style recalls iconic predecessors like Matisse, while her impetus to center brown bodies that have historically been essentialized, if not omitted altogether, from these sorts of historical artworks recontextualizes the roles of the artist and subject at once.

Martinez’ newest body of work is both more commanding in scale, as well as increasingly focused on the figures she portrays. The figures are usually engaged in everyday leisure activities, and Martinez’ work indulges color and mood, all while maintaining a charming nonchalance. Even in the works bold simplicity, a matrix of historical and cultural signifiers exposes a boundlessness, both in connection through nostalgic specificity and limitlessness in the lack thereof. Towering above the line of sight, Lilian Martinez’ women portrayed, welcome the viewer with open arms into a dreamscape of her making.”

Beautiful! {Some of Lilian’s work is available through her shop; original work can be found via Ochi Gallery.}

Gasp! These pattern-filled, domestic-meets-divine, narrative ‘n nostalgic paintings are not only breathtaking, they’re also packed with clever references to all sorts of things… a nod to Van Gogh’s work boots, for example (look at those juicy red laces squeezed right outta the tube!). This is the work of LA based painter Alec Egan, and all of these pieces were part of his most recent show this past summer, titled “August”, at Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles. Stunning.

ps. according to Alec’s Instagram feed, he and his partner, Harper, just became parents to a sweet little girl a few weeks ago… congratulations, you three!

Sooooo, who wants to start Monday morning by licking some art? Me too! Okay, fine, I won’t actually lick/touch this work by Baltimore based artist Nicole Dyer… but I really want to! Gooey paint and googly eyes, sparkly pompoms and puffy stickers. Yes, yes, yes, YES. The combination of hilarious kitsch and obvious artistic skill is one of my most favorite pairings… much like candy-covered cupcakes and grapefruit-flavored fizzy water. Ew. Actually, never mind that last one.

“I gather materials everywhere I go … Materials are a language.” 

Yes, yes, a thousand times YES! New York based artist Petah Coyne is my new hero. I saw some of her glass work in Venice a few years ago but didn’t even realize it was hers until today… and then I went down the Petah Coyne rabbit hole! That amazing journey involved not only her intricate glass pieces but also works made from wax, beautifully bizarre taxidermy, silk flowers, more wax … and, eventually, I found my way to this video she did with SFMoMA. Watch the video. Have you watched it? Okay, I’ll wait. Seriously. [pauses for 4 minutes] Wasn’t that FABULOUS!? I’m going to spend the weekend ‘trying to make bad’, because as Petah wisely says, “sometimes when you make really bad, it’s really good.” LOVE.

Okay, I’m a little late to the game on this work by Chinese artist Peng Wei, but oh my goodness I love it! She’s been making these paper-molded pieces since 2007… women’s body parts covered in hand painted xuan paper. This work represents her concern over the Westernization of traditional Chinese culture. Look carefully, because she’s hidden treasures like ladies wearing some very non-traditional high heeled shoes while going about their daily tasks. ps. the boots were a collaboration with shoe designer Sergio Rossi in 2012.

{found via Art Girl Rising}

Loooooove! These are the hand-cut collages of New York / Atlanta artist Christa David. I’ve been following her for awhile, and ooooh, these latest pieces made up of… is that skirt?… are so great. The compositions, color choices, and the stories they stir up:

“In my artwork, context, specifically story, is essential. Stories, like currency, are circulated. Using materials sourced from historical archives, vintage and contemporary magazines and newspapers, I cut and compose mostly intimate-sized narrative collages that describe my thoughts about the stories I’ve heard and told about myself and others.”

Yep, once again, I’m gonna need my scissors and every old magazine I can find. Happy Wednesday.

ps. Christa’s work is available in her shop.

Thread… a ferris wheel made out of THREAD!? This is the work of Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki. He does all sorts of jaw-dropping things with a long list of other materials – like wood, tape, etc – but this series from a few years ago, titled “Out of Disorder”, took my breath away. It is meant to represent “the graceful transition of a Japanese landscape from the past to the present.” Beautiful.

“Bad Fruit” has never looked so delicious! This is the latest work by New York/LA based artist Kathleen Ryan. I wrote about her oversized ‘rotting’ pears, peaches and lemons last year, but these beauties are from a show she had in early 2020 {pre-pandemic} at Francois Ghebaly Gallery in Los Angeles. I am absolutely in awe of Kathleen’s work, for two reasons… 1. the meaning behind them, “a comment on the excessive consumption and a culture of excess that exists all over our world”; and 2. the insane detail and absolutely exquisite bits and pieces she uses to create this work. The materials list for the grapes looks like this: Amethyst, aventurine, agate, garnet, pyrite, ruby in zoisite, tektite, tigereye, turquoise, serpentine, obsidian, blackstone, Indian unakite, labradorite, Sierra agate, red agate, black agate, serpentine, quartz, marble, amazonite, rhyolite, calcite, dalmation jasper, glass, steel and stainless steel pins, copper tube and copper fittings, polystyrene. And the list for the melon chunks… cherry quartz, rose quartz, agate, smoky quartz, rhodenite, rhotochrocite, labradorite, quartz, citrine, calcite, horn, stone looking beads, silver lace agate, magnacite, rhyolite, Botswana agate, carnelian, acrylic, glass, cast iron and brass flies, steel and stainless steel pins, polystyrene, aluminum Airstream trailer. Airstream trailer!?