Ok, yes, I just wrote about New York based / Australian artist CJ Hendry, and her hand-drawn, large-scale blobs of paint. Well, clearly, those drawings were just the tip of the hyperreal, colorful iceberg! First of all, yes, those are DRAWINGS of crumpled up Pantone chips. DRAWINGS. Secondly, they are obviously not hanging in a white-walled gallery. CJ has a special installation that opens tomorrow in Brooklyn – an installation that takes “buying art to match your couch” to an entirely new, and refreshing, level:

MONOCHROME is born into a 22,000 sq. ft industrial space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Hendry has designed a seven-room home around the art hanging on the walls. You will walk through seven distinct rooms, each room consisting of only one monochromatic color. Seven rooms, seven colors… this will be a visual feast for the senses.

“People generally buy art as the last item, they find art to match their home. I have become close with my collectors over the years and have noticed how differently they live their lives. Art is the first thing they add to a space and they design their entire home around their collection. I have taken this concept to an extreme level. Each room has been designed to emulate the art on the wall. The art is the focus, everything matches the art.”

MONOCHROME opens tomorrow – Thursday, April 5th through Sunday, April 8th, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 276 Greenpoint Ave in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Go… and Instagram the hell out of it for those of us who can’t be there!

Oooh, look at that tiny snippet of goodness! Layers of paper, images, and whatever else this curious artist can get her hands on. Today I’m talking to Canadian artist Aimée Henny Brown. And the reason for the title of this episode, “Foxes ‘n’ Hedgehogs” is truly a perfect description of how Aimée’s brain works … curious like a fox, but she digs deep like a hedgehog! We started this episode with a personal help session that I’d requested. Aimée knows EVERYTHING about paper and, luckily, is happy to share her knowledge. I want to go bigger with my collages, so she told me how. Listen right up there under that insanely gorgeous peek at a #WIP from her Instagram feed, or you can subscribe on iTunes.

First, go big or go home.

Gah! Look at that amazing, gigantic collage! That’s the Tyvek she was talking about, and yes, I am so going to try that. Look out hardware store, here I come!

Next up, houses in the negative. This is what she’s experimenting with while in Montreal, and I absolutely love them:

There really is something so beautiful about the other side of the paper after you’ve made a few cuts – lots of happy surprises over there! So, as you can see, Aimée has a fascination with structures, architecture, shelters etc… case in point, a few pieces from a 2016 titled “Futur Infinitif” :

Oh my word. Stunning. Last year Aimée and I were in a group show together, along with Vancouver’s Janice Wu, at Back Gallery Project. These were some of Aimée’s pieces:

There they are on the right, and again, look how big they are! I included that close-up above as well so you could see that, yes, there are houses nestled into almost everything she does! LOVE.

Oooh, and these are the installation shots of the work Aimée did while on that YEAR LONG residency in Harrison:

Right? Seriously, she can make anything. Look at those cuts? I love that she isn’t afraid to experiment with materials… which of course is why I ask her for advice whenever I can!

Speaking of cuts, here are those perfectly perfect bangs we were talking about:

Gorgeous! The topmost shot is a recent photo, but given all of our talk about foxes, hedgehogs and possums, I thought it only fair to include this 2016 image of Aimée and her forest friend! Thanks to Aimée for taking a break in her precious studio time to hang out with me for an hour and a half; thanks to Saatchi Art and Thrive for supporting the episode, and thanks to you for listening! There will be more art for your ear next weekend.

ps. I just found out tonight that Thrive is currently accepting new members for their May intake. Their groups fill up, so if you’re interested make sure to pop over there soon.

Other links:

1. Thrive Mastermind
2. Tyvek
3. Terraskin
4. NASCAD, Halifax
5. University of Alberta, Edmonton
6. Condordia University, Montreal
7. Banff Centre Programs, Banff 
8. Amy on Instagram
9. Maudie {movie that will make you cry}
10. SOMA Gallery, Vancouver {June show}
11. ACT Gallery, Maple Ridge
12. Pendulum Gallery, Vancouver {Fall show}

Ahhh, the passionate and painful ups and downs of love. This is the neon work of British artist Tracey Emin. Her portfolio is full of paintings, drawings, installations, needlework and, of course, these romantic / heart-breaking / hilarious / very personal neon pieces. This is just a teeny teeny tiny snapshot of the neon work she’s created over the years, but I thought they nicely covered the range of emotions from “I forever belong to you” to “Sorry, flowers die” …

“Tracey Emin’s art is one of disclosure, using her life events as inspiration … Emin reveals her hopes, humiliations, failures and successes in candid and, at times, excoriating work that is frequently both tragic and humorous.”

Yes, that they are. Happy Valentine’s Day… or not.

A chapel to celebrate shape and color? I’m in! “Chiaozza Chapel” is the latest work by Chiaozza – the collaborative artistic team of Adam Frezza and Terri Chiao. Oh, and ps. it opens TONIGHT at Cooler Gallery in Brooklyn:

“Historically a chapel is a non-religious place of worship and contemplation; a small, non-conforming annex to common and prevalent modes of spiritual practice. The Chiaozza Chapel, installed within Cooler Gallery, is an intimate sanctuary celebrating color, light, and form. Five painted wooden wall works fill the 6- by 7-foot gallery. The formal compositions reference natural and metaphysical concepts such as horizons, atmosphere, time, landscape, and ritual. Repetitive motifs such as grids, diagonals, and arcs augment the visual vibration of the room.

In Chiaozza’s work, color is a vessel for experience. Matte opaque pigment blurs the presence of the sculpture’s surface and its surroundings, emphasizing the interaction of color and space. Light bounces off the painted wooden planks, creating reflected chambers of color that animate the air around and within each piece.”

Amen! Go tonight … Cooler Gallery, 22 Waverly Ave, Brooklyn 7 ~ 10pm

Oh my goodness, yes. This is an installation by Australian artist Amy Joy Watson. I’ve written about her sculptures twice before {2014, 2011} but I just came across this public installation … and yes, I love it! Plywood, acrylic paint, colored rope, and stainless steel cables come together to create“Celestial Bodies”. Gorgeous! This work is now a permanent public artwork at the Australian Catholic University in the Daniel Mannix Building, Melbourne. Stunning.

*Photos by Lisbeth Grosmann

These two photographs inspired a colorful, dreamy, David Lynch-ish traveling performance piece by American artist Jenny Fine. I wrote about Jenny’s series, titled “The Saddest Day” a few years ago – a heartbreaking project she did with her dear grandmother, Sarah, shortly before her death. Almost all of Jenny’s work is an homage to her Granny, and the beautiful dedication continues! May I present Flat Granny and Me: A Procession in My Mind:

“Intertwining the historic narrative surrounding the plight of my South Alabama farming community at the hands of the Mexican Boll Weevil with the memory-scape of my grandmother riding in the annual Boll Weevil Parade as 1968 Woman of the Year; past meets present, reality and memory collide placing the viewer in a dream-like setting and state. Part cyclorama/part moving image, A Procession… was created in an attempt to “reverse the camera’s crop” – returning space and time to the still image; and doing so, attempts to redefine the form and function of the photograph in our contemporary, image-saturated world.” 

So beautiful. And that’s “Flat Granny” above — a life-size photographic cutout of her grandmother turned costume. A full video of this dreamlike performance piece can be seen on Jenny’s site. There are also gorgeous behind-the-scenes photos that go into detail about the gorgeous costumes, lighting, etc.  It’s all just so weird and beautiful.

If these light installations don’t scream “Happy New Year”, well, I don’t know what does! These light-filled beauties are the work of Romania-born, Texas-based artist Adela Andea. Explosions of color, neon tentacles and wiggly lines of pure joy! Here is an inspiring little snippet of Adela’s artist statement to send you off into the new year:

“The numerous transitions in my life made me think about the enormous capability of people to adapt to situations and even more, search for the new possibilities of personal development through inquisitive experiences.”

Happy 2018!!!

Ok, I was already experiencing some serious FOMO about not being at Art Basel Miami this weekend… and then I found about this interactive piece showing at The Temple House. “New Spring”, by Studio SWINE (Super Wide Interdisciplinary New Explorers : a collaboration between Japanese Architect Azusa Murakami and British Artist Alexander Groves). Delicate blossom bubbles, filled with floral-scented mist, fall gently from a white, chandelier-like tree. The bubbles pop on contact… unless of course you’re wearing the special gloves provided. Seriously, watch this video and tell me you’re not knee-deep in FOMO too:

Video found via Golem13

Oh my word. This stunning fiber based installation was one of my favorite things at the Venice Biennale this past summer, and yes, it probably has something to do with my current obsession with pom poms. Granted, these are not pom poms at all. They are “pigmented acrylic fibre” wrangled into large soft orbs with some kind of synthetic netting! This gorgeous piece {that you were NOT allowed to jump on even if you really wanted to} was part of the “Color Pavilion” at the Arsenale, and is the work of American-born, Paris based artist Sheila Hicks. Watch the video above to see Sheila talking about this piece… so beautiful on so many levels.

ps. a bit of proof, basically to remind myself that I really was there – because sometimes it feels more like a crazy dream.

“Hot Straws” Red, pink and violet straws on wooden panel and metallic frame; “Too Late” colored silicone bracelets on wooden panel and metallic frame; “Spiderballs” blue, red, yellow, fuschia, and gray plastic cobweb dusters, steel cables and metallic nets… whoa. When this is your art supply shopping list, you know something magical is about to happen. And, if you can believe it, these fantastical works are just the tip of the creative iceberg when it comes to the portfolio of Italian artist Francesca Pasquali. Love, love, love!