Entertainment Justice griots like Will See and Bryce Detroit organize communities through rap, while Pope.L’s work linking Flint and Detroit to New York shows how infrastructures that enforce scarcity can be evaded. Continue reading
Cuts amount to almost a 20 percent decrease in the mega-gallery’s workforce. Continue reading
Through a luxuriant series of embroideries, Litli Ulfur translates thick landscapes into lush entanglements of brown and green stitches. The abstract forms consider the intricacies of nature through an aerial perspective, contrasting micro- and macro-views in every inch. Each piece is created organically and uniquely, ensuring no two are alike.
The textured works are inspired by natural sources, like jungly forests and the human nervous system, that are reflected through French knots, tufts, and flat patches. More Continue reading
Alberta-based artist Simone Saunders hand-tufts bold, colorful portraits with themes of identity and Black history woven throughout. Crafting vibrant patches of fibers that form eyes, lips, and garments, Saunders casts her earnest subjects against austere backgrounds, which sometimes are marked with “Black Lives Matter.”
The textured artworks serve as a site for conversation, prompting questions about race relations and societal injustices. “Textiles engage upon a search for belonging: studying the Black female body, personal identities, and a connection to Black history,” the artist tells Colossal. More Continue reading
When Adrian Brandon starts to color a portrait, he sets a timer. For his rendering of Breonna Taylor, the clock is set to 26 minutes—for George Floyd, 46 minutes, for Tony McDade, 38, and for Aiyana Stanley Jones, just seven. “When the alarm sounds, I am hit with a wave of emotions ranging from anger, to deep sadness, to hopelessness, to feeling lucky that I am still here,” he says.
The Brooklyn-based artist is working on Stolen, a series of partially filled-in depictions of Black people murdered by police. More Continue reading
The immensity and depth of Mary Sibande’s multi-media artworks reflect the magnitude of her subject matter, which explicitly entwines the enduring effects of British imperialism and the apartheid. Through photographs, sculptures, and sprawling installations that scale floor to ceiling, the South African artist most often features a central Black woman, who is shown enveloped in purple roots or grasping thick, black thread dangling from a nearby portrait.
Named Sophie, the figure’s role is subversive and one that sheds light on the particularly “cruel history of Black female oppression and its implications in contemporary life—in particular, perception and ownership of freedom.” Sophie is dressed in color-specific costumes resembling Victorian-era clothing and often is wrapped in an apron, a garment synonymous with domestic work. More Continue reading
“It is not enough for the museum to ‘reflect’ on the ‘power and possibility of art,'” the letter reads. Continue reading
The commercial success of artists like Steve McQueen and Chris Ofili shows how unstable the career can be. Continue reading
A new photo series, titled Table For One, takes the proverbial saying that “you are what you eat” literally as it transforms model Tin Gao by sandwiching her between layers of cheese, lunchmeat, shredded lettuce, and sliced tomato in a bulging hoagie. Shot by photographer Annie Collinge, the bizarre series sees Gao morph from one food group to the next, whether as a stout tomato fashioned from a red jacket that covers the model from chin to ankle or stuffed into a peeled banana that mimics a sleeping bag. More Continue reading
Here’s what we’re reading this morning. Continue reading
Here’s what we’re reading this morning. Continue reading
Animation director Patrick Smith ingeniously interchanges a variety of pills, capsules, and syringes with similarly shaped candy in a vertiginous new short film. Parodying the ubiquity of modern pharmaceutical use, “Candy Shop” opens by noting that there are a staggering 11,926 prescription drugs available to consumers. Smith shows only 2,863 as he juxtaposes them with individually wrapped sweets, boxes of Gobstoppers, and rolls of Hubba Bubba Tape, which are eerily comparable in size, shape, and color. More Continue reading
The artist, whose achievements were recognized later in her career, turns 105 years old on May 30. Continue reading
A defiant middle finger, a heap of sunflower seeds, and various mythical creatures are all silk-screened in black ink on the blue cloth backdrops of nonsurgical masks. The artworks the most recent intervention by artist and activist Ai Weiwei (previously) to help raise money for organizations directly involved with combating the coronavirus pandemic.
Inspired by a documentary he’s making about COVID-19, the artist decided to create an entire collection after printing his iconic middle finger onto one of the disposable cloths. More Continue reading
New color in the times of slow coffee Terrence Caviar & Kristin Texeira We’re crazy about the paintings of our friend Kristin Texeira, so we had the idea to make photos inspired by the elemental shapes and soothing color palettes that make up Kristin’s beautiful abstract compositions. Everyone under stay-in-place mandates (Kristin in upstate New … Continued Continue reading
Acrylics, because they are water-based, can be thinned with water to create transparent washes. But the pigments don’t tend to adhere very well once this is done, which is where glazing media come in. These additives are fluid, but they are also slightly adhesive so they stick to painting supports like panel and canvas, as […] Continue reading
Acrylic paint is extremely versatile thanks to its compatibility with a variety of other media that serve myriad purposes. Among these add-ins are flow enhancers, also known as flow aids, which thin acrylic paint without affecting its color or finish. While acrylics, being water based, can be thinned with water, this may weaken the paint’s […] Continue reading
Lenore Tawney pioneered techniques for creating sculptural, expressive weavings. Continue reading
For Meggan Joy to begin creating her flowery assemblages, she first has to plant the seeds. The Seattle-based artist cultivates a plot in a community garden throughout the summer months, tending to each fern and vibrant petal. Once her patch is in full bloom, she captures thousands of individual photographs of her rooted plants before combining them into allegorical digital collages of the female body. Birds, butterflies, and other visitors to her garden make an appearance, as well. More Continue reading
Colored pencils are an essential tool for artists, illustrators, and coloring-book devotees alike. An immediate source of mess-free color in a wide range of hues, they’re an ideal medium for everything from preliminary sketches to finished drawings and from pattern design to interior decorating. Our picks below will help you find the best brand for […] Continue reading
