Collages on cut panel … oh, hell YES. This is the work of Denver based artist Libby Barbee and I can safely say, as a collage artist myself, wowza – I am totally inspired! The way she uses cut panel to bring her work to life makes my heart race. All of the pieces above are from her series, titled Trophies, but please look through her whole portfolio to get a sense of her creativity and amazingness… case in point, Libby just finished this fantastic installation at Facebook HQ in Denver {images found on her Instagram feed}:
Yayoi Kusama. Can you imagine, not only meeting her, but getting to spend time with her – over years – while making a documentary about her incredible life? Well, that is exactly what my guest did. American filmmaker Heather Lenz first fell in love with the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama years ago during art school … and in 2018 she watched her film, Kusama Infinity, premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. AMAZING. It is such a beautiful movie on so many levels. Kusama is now 89, and I think it’s beyond fantastic that Heather was able to document this very important artist’s life in person. Just imagine, Heather got to sit with Kusama … watching her work, asking her questions, listening to stories about her time in New York, Japan, Venice and more. You can listen right up there under Kusama in her fabulous red wig, or subscribe on iTunes.
Heather did a wonderful job of telling Kusama’s story, from childhood until now. Here are just a few images that take us through this fascinating life:
Ah, yes … Kusama’s early paintings, the dizzying infinity net paintings, and literally boatloads of soft sculptures.
And then, of course, her very famous dots:
… and she’s still doing them today. In fact, she’s probably putting dots on something right this very second!
There are so many gorgeous images in the film too. These are two of my favorites, from Kusama’s early days in New York:
Gah! So stylish.
Ok, this might be one of my favorite Kusama adventures. This is when she showed up to the 1966 Venice Biennale, uninvited, and created her installation titled “Narcissus Garden”:
After she got in trouble for selling her orbs to visitors, she laid amongst them in a red unitard knowing full well the press would cover such a beautiful spectacle. She was right.
Skip ahead almost thirty years, and here we are in Venice again. This time it’s 1993 and Kusama was invited to represent Japan at the Biennale… this was hugely important for two reasons. One, she was the first woman to represent Japan, and two, in previous years Japan typically sent several artists, not just one:
Her exhibition included a range of work including a mirror room, small yellow pumpkin sculptures, and more. But this was not the first or last of Kusama’s spectacular infinity rooms:
So brilliant, and ridiculously beautiful.
Speaking of which, this is the woman we’ve been talking to. The tenacious and passionate Heather Lenz:
Inspiring and unbelievably determined … both of them! If you can see this film, please see it. We only touched on a fraction of the stories … there is so much MORE. Huge thanks to Heather for her dedication and unrelenting passion that was required to make this wonderful piece of art history come to life… I think she and Kusama have a lot in common when it comes to forging ahead no matter what. Thank you to Saatchi Art for supporting this episode, and thank YOU for listening. There will be more art for your ear next weekend.
A couple that creates crazy worlds together, stays together? In this particular case… YES! This is the collaborative work of Australian husband and wife team, DABSMYLA. This post is just a teeny tiny fraction of their work. They paint {yes, those are paintings, not digital illustrations}, build whimsical interior installations, and cover entire buildings in their spectacular outdoor murals. Here is part of their ‘about’ section that sums things up quite nicely:
“There is nothing random or erroneous in DABSMYLA’s work; it’s planned and executed with the precision of a diamond heist and with the charm of a Technicolor world.
DABSMYLA enhance their works with immersive environments that enhance the sense of whimsy and grandeur contained inside paintings, mixed media and sculpture. This milieu isn’t simply adornment, but rather the tangible foundation for which everything else stands upon.
It’s this warmth and willingness to share which makes DABSMYLA’s art completely unique. Exploring tactile themes through sight, touch and sound, there are no boundaries so that the lines between real life and dreamscape are non-existent.”
Gasp! She’s done it again… an immersive collage!? This is “The Mushroom Hunters” by Berlin based American artist Clare Celeste Börsch. Can you imagine jumping around INSIDE a collage? That’s the kind of thing my dreams are made of. Well, minus the snakes. NO SNAKES.
Oh my word. So. Many. Knots! Sigh. This beautiful, year-long project is the work of San Francisco based artist Windy Chien… and that’s all I’m going to say, because she explains it perfectly :
I made one new knot every day in 2016: The Year of Knots
On the fourth day of January in 2016, I was at home in San Francisco in my backyard woodworking shed sweeping up sawdust, tidying the workshop, aware of the new year ahead. I wondered, idly, what it might bring. What happened next—in a flash—was completely unexpected: I had an actual ‘lightbulb moment,’ the kind I thought happened only in fiction. In the space of seconds, an entire year of knots laid itself out to me. Yes, knots—as in rope, tied …
2016 unfurled itself in my mind as I swept: I would learn one new knot each and every day of the year. I would post the daily results on Instagram, not only to keep myself accountable, but as a reference and a record. I would include captions explaining the knots’ names, histories, and utility, so that others could learn alongside me. I had no idea then if others would be interested, but I hoped they might be. I instantly intuited the project’s self-imposed design constraints—such as making the knots out of white rope and photographing them on a white background for visual consistency and in order to emphasize what I find to be the most compelling element of the art of knot-making: the line.
I would allow myself to fully and deeply explore the aesthetics of objects we usually think of as merely functional. Knots seem humble but are feats of engineering. What is the direction of pull? Is the knot made from a single line, or more than one strand? Does the knot move or is it fixed? Where is its tension?
The Year of Knots gave me many rich things.
A daily ritual that allowed me to quickly access the blissful state of flow that had previously been so elusive to me.
My art school, where I learned the elemental building blocks of art: line, form, shape, space, texture, and color.
A history lesson, where I learned knots’ context in nautical life, the material and physical properties of rope, and how for any given situation there’s a knot that is right while all the others are wrong.
Most importantly, the knots are a new language. Every new knot is like learning another letter in the alphabet. Alphabets and letters form words, and words communicate. So the knots are a new form of communication, to make, as Rebecca Solnit puts it, “the mute material world come to life.”
Love.
{Currently installed at Facebook HQ in Menlo Park, CA}
Wildflowers, mushrooms, butterflies, acrylic, ink, and vellum on canvas. Loooooooove. This is the work of Los Angeles based artist Sage Vaughn. I saw his work in person this week while I was in San Francisco, and loved it immediately. I actually gasped out loud when I came face to face with one of his canvases… and THEN I saw this:
WHAT. A huge, beautiful, drippy, wheatpaste flower-covered mural complete with forest critters? Oh, yes! Sage installed this beauty at Facebook HQ in Menlo Park, thanks to the Facebook Artist-in-Residence program (aka @fbairprogram). I love everything about it – the scale, the detail, and the fact FB employees get to eat lunch surrounded by this weird meadow every single day. So. Good. Happy Monday.
Gasp! This insanely beautiful glazed stoneware / porcelain installation is the work of Los Angeles based artist Courtney Mattison. It’s titled “Confluence (Our Changing Seas V)” and has just become part of the permanent collection of the US Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia, Art in Embassies, US Department of State. Here is part of Courtney’s powerful artist statement:
“Like cities, coral reefs pulse in a frenzy of activity. Residents of these diverse habitats find food, shelter and mates within their structures. Weary travelers find respite in their outcroppings—oases from the open sea. From the tiniest snapping shrimp to the largest whale shark, coral reefs are sanctuaries for life’s exuberance. In reefs as in cities, each individual plays a role that can affect how the ecosystem functions. The key to success is finding harmony in heterogeneity—unity in diversity. Yet today, reefs face unprecedented threats from human impacts. ‘Confluence (Our Changing Seas V)’ pays homage to Indonesia’s coral reefs and the value they provide to Indonesians and the world while highlighting the threat of climate change and coral bleaching. I hope that the idea of creating such a monumental, intricately hand-detailed ceramic sculptural installation inspires a sense of excitement in viewers about the connections we share to coral reefs while empowering individuals and policymakers to act to conserve.”
Breath. Taking. I’ve written about New York based artist Jacob Hashimoto before {2014}, but after seeing glimpses of this absolutely stunning installation, titled ‘The Eclipse’, popping up over and over again on Instagram, well, clearly I had to write about him again. If you are in New York, please, please, please go to this … and then tell me all about it!
Governors Island (NY) Announces Immersive Public Exhibition by Artist Jacob Hashimoto. Two breathtaking installations [‘The Eclipse’ – shown here, and ‘Never Comes Tomorrow’] composed of thousands of delicate, hanging rice paper kites, cubes and funnels to be displayed in historic St. Cornelius Chapel and Liggett Hall Archway. ON VIEW: June 2 – October 31, 2018
Oh my word… all hail New York based artist Mickalene Thomas. Patterns, women, jewels, glitter, more patterns! All of her work is so rich, not only with visual treats, but also with power and meaning. Here is a perfect description found on her “about” page:
“Mickalene Thomas makes paintings, collages, photography, video, and installations that draw on art history and popular culture to create a contemporary vision of female sexuality, beauty, and power. Blurring the distinction between object and subject, concrete and abstract, real and imaginary, Thomas constructs complex portraits, landscapes, and interiors in order to examine how identity, gender, and sense-of-self are informed by the ways women (and “feminine” spaces) are represented in art and popular culture.”
YES! And those “feminine” spaces are FANTASTIC! If you ever get a chance to immerse yourself in one of Mickalene’s installations, DO IT. Here’s a little peek:
“My land art fuses with the environment and aims to play freely. To live together not as opposed to nature but as close as possible.”
Delicate white mushrooms that have a subtle neon glow… except that they’re not mushrooms at all. They’re thumb tacks. LOVE. This installation, titled “White Mushroom Breeding Project”, is a 2014 project by Japanese artist Toshihiko Shibuya. So perfect, magical, and weird… hence the LOVE.
