The Stickuation Room

If you were anything like me as a kid, you loved stickers. Maybe you had a sticker book where you would place them all carefully, as the precious items they are to children. Now, what would you do if you had unlimited stickers at your disposal? You heard me. Unlimited. Stickers. That was the idea behind Yayoi Kusama's exhibit at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. After painting a large, domestic space pure white, she armed the museum's little ones with stickers and let them have at it. The results are incredible, and make me wish I were a kid again. Via This is Collosal.••••

In Living Color

I will never cease to amazed away by trompe l'oeil sidewalk chalk, or Baroque ceilings, which trick you into seeing depth where there is none. But here is a twist I like— painter/photographer Alexa Meade's subjects live and breathe, but you might not realize this at first blush. After some impressive brush work, her models easily pass for two-dimensional in a photograph. You might think there is some Photoshop involved in creating these images, but think again!

Check out Slate's slideshow for more of Meade's work. ••••

Talking with pots

This is a post I’ve been long overdue writing, since it’s been on my mind quite a bit these days! This summer, I began taking a pottery class at Mudflat Studios in Somerville— a class that coincided with a trip to Seagrove, Asheville, and Penland, NC (pottery meccas). For household items, I’ve always been drawn to clean lines and shapes— the Crate and Barrel aesthetic, if you will. And while I still plan to frequent C&B for cooking utensils and linens, this year I’ve made a total 180 and come to appreciate handmade pottery more than ever before. Much like quilting, I think that these artists are often unsung, or at least undervalued, partially due to the lack of ego associated with this craft. Below is a video by a potter who’s work I saw recently at the Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA, Warren MacKenzie. MacKenzie talks about the communication that exists between a handmade piece and the person using it, and I think this is what makes pottery (and handmade functional objects in general) so special and unlike anything mass-produced.

And, while I’m on the subject, let me also share the work of a personal favorite I visited down in Penland, whose pieces I am minorly obsessed with at the moment. His name is Shawn Ireland, and his pieces are rooted in folk tradition. Seriously wonderful artistry. Enjoy! ••••

Old Masters, Remastered

I was recently introduced to two new (to me) artists on a trip to Raleigh’s North Carolina Art Museum — which, by the way, has an amazing collection. Vik Muniz and Tom Hunter, two contemporary photographers, were both exhibiting large scale images that re-imagined Old Masters painting, each in their own way.

Vik Muniz’s Pictures of Junk Series are reproductions of these paintings in—you guessed it—junk, or sometimes garbage. Poke around his website and you’ll find some amazing examples; here, are Atalanta and Hippomenes, after Guiodo Reni, and Saturn devouring one of his Sons, after Francisco de Goya Y Lucientes. Incredible use of white space, and testament to the theory that art can be made out of anything when you’re creative.

Tom Hunter’s work more subtly references the paintings of such artists as Andrew Wyeth, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Vermeer. Without referencing the original work in the title, or exactly replicating the piece, Hunter will stage photographs that remind you of something you have seen once before but perhaps can’t quite place. See his website for more of his work— there is no specific series for the Masters, but interspersed throughout his Gallery you will know them by the sense of deja vu they provoke. ••••

Barry McGee

A lovely little video with one of my favorite artists, Barry McGee. I love watching an artist work. via booooooom. ••••

The Daintification of Masculinity

Two things I like: gender studies and handicrafts. Thank you, Nathan Vincent, for combining the two. Vincent creates traditionally "masculine" objects using the traditionally "feminine" technique of crochet or sewing to explore "gender permissions and the challenges that arise from straying from the prescribed norms." Love the concept, and also simply WANT that bear rug in my home. My birthday is December 4th. ••••

Paper People Eater

We've had a few posts on paper art in the past (here and here), but these creations really blew me away.••••

Kazuto Nomoto

Kazuto Nomoto (or Nomoco) is a really amazing illustrator I recently happened upon. Nomoco has done work for some high profile brands including the Gap and Marc Jacobs. I love the playfulness of the gouache/watercolor technique. Also, her fearlessness of color is awesome, the crew really respects a good color sense. Her work has found a home in fashion, she has even done some work for my hometown mall (awesome) but it remains extremely delicate and genuine. Also, view a video of her Moleskine here. ••••

New Art!

I acquired some new art last week, and thought I might give you all a little peek at it! First is "Gold Luck" by Scott Patt from his recent show at Corduroy. Second, an old print from an Audobon book framed by the nice people at Sunshine Lucy's with reclaimed wood. I think the two epitomize my taste... eclectic? ••••

Damian Ortega at the Boston ICA

I saw the Damian Ortega show that Boston's ICA last week. My thoughts, in a word: unimpressed. The biggest and best piece there was a deconstructed, suspended VW bug (above). I was able to walk through it and around it, some people were even knocking it a bit! He took apart every last piece of the car, resembling a diagram in a car manual. I'm not sure most artists would let people get within 1 foot of that piece, so I have a lot of respect for that. The other pieces included balancing chairs, blown glass and pieces of leather that were too abstract for me to comprehend. I went home and googled him, convinced that I had heard his name before, and I came across a piece that reminded me of something else I had seen. I went to Zurich a few years back and saw a piece that had all these weapons suspended in mid-air and forced the viewer to walk through them. There was also a soundtrack playing in the background of little clanging metallic sounds. Nothing too haunted-house-y, but just enough for me to think a gun might accidentally go off or a sword might come loose from it's hold. It was awesome and resembled the piece below. If anyone knows what artist I am referring to, please let me know because I have googled every possible combination of terms to no avail. Anyway, Google proved to me that Damian Ortega has a lot more meaningful and interesting work than was exhibited at the ICA, but at least it was Free Thursdays. ••••

Tamar Cohen

I saw Steven Heller's write up on Tamar Cohen about a month ago, and saw she was exhibiting in Provincetown at the Gallery Ehva. I went to check it out and was really impressed by her work and her exhibition wall setup. As you can see from these snapshots, she chose to integrate the wall space by having the patterns from some pieces spill over onto the wall and floor. I love the work on her site, but I really appreciated the fact that she took it one step further with the exhibition. Check out her work here. ••••

Not Your Average Crayola

-As seen on Not Cot ••••

T-rrific

For each issue of T Magazine, a different artist recreates the cover 'T.' Click here to see the best of the best from the past five years. ••••

Mmm... Mondrian.

I found these "Modern Art" placemats for Vienna's Mumok Museum of Modern Art on If It's Hip It's Here and thought they were a pretty tasty piece of design. ••••

Waste Not

On a recent trip to New York City, I had the chance to see a truly moving exhibit at the MoMA. Located on the first floor of the museum and visible from the four stories above, Song Dong's Project entitled Waste Not may not look like much at first glance. From a distance, it is seemingly just a collection of old junk, neatly organized into a thoughtful grid. I admit that I approached it with skepticism, expecting it to be a take on recycling by a hip artist from Generation Green.

However, this piece turned out to be far removed from my expectations, and touching in its sincerity. The Beijing-based artist Song Dong explains his project on a nearby wall, saying that during the Cultural Revolution his mother adopted the Chinese philosophy of wu jin qi yong— or "waste not." At the time, it was a matter of necessity— to save everything and use it to its fullest potential meant survival. However, long after it was necessary, the practice was maintained. Everything was saved, regardless of its usefulness. His mother's compulsion to keep it all, despite dwindling living space, worsened after the painful loss of his father.
This exhibit was conceived as a way to make all these seemingly useless items useful again as an art piece. It brought great joy to Song Dong's mother, who was happy to see that all of her efforts had paid off in the end. Sadly, she passed away shortly after the exhibit went up— but the material objects that represent her life (including the tiny frame of her home) are now on display at the MoMA until September 7th.

Because We Can + Ponoko

A couple weeks ago my friend Mark and I went to a BBQ/open house at the Because We Can Studio in Oakland. I recently came across their work while surfing the web one night and was instantly inspired and mesmerized by their impressive portfolio. Because We Can specializes in Sustainable Interior Design and Custom Furniture. By working collaboratively with a mix of artists, designers, fabricators, and builders the people behind Because We Can are able to create just about anything you can imagine. I brought Mark with me because he is a master craftsman (he builds boats as a hobby. no big deal.) and I knew that he would be interested in the actual engineering behind their work -- I just wanted to look at all the cool stuff. The low-key BBQ was the perfect setting for mingling with fellow creative masterminds, as well as the opportunity to see some of their current projects still in development. The awesome folks at the studio were friendly, welcoming, and took the time to walk us through their process. Click here to learn more about their studio and impressive business model -- seriously inspiring![The image above is a project in the works for the offices of Wikipedia, a little website you might have heard of. You know their famous globe icon? Well, Because We Can is making it 3-dimensional. So cool.]

Similarly, while at the Because We Can open house I was introduced to Ponoko, another amazing and creative company. Ponoko.com is an online shop for individualized goods. An individual submits their designs and Ponoko helps bring them to life!

"Ponoko manages every detail for you to buy, make and sell stuff. This service includes a marketplace for shoppers to find the most original designer crafted goods, match making between shoppers and designers to get exactly what you want, a personal online factory for you to 'click to make' whatever you can draw, and a personal online shop to show, share or sell your stuff."

Although based in New Zealand, the wise people at Ponoko sent Dan (see his own designs here) over to the United States to set up shop in an effort to expand their business. Because We Can opened up their studio and is now sharing their space with Ponoko. Dan took the time to tell us all about the company and showed us examples of their work. Ponoko offers a platform to help artists professionally develop and manufacture their designs; what an encouraging and exciting new opportunity for artists of all types. I have no idea what to design first, but I hope to submit something soon. ••••