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newscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-22 05:00 pm
colossal_feed) wrote2025-12-22 06:27 pm
From inexpensive, ubiquitous, and utilitarian materials, virtually endless forms and narratives can be created with a bit of imagination. That’s exactly what the show Cardboard: Infinite Possibilities, opening next month at Wönzimer Gallery, aims to highlight.
The group exhibition is curated by Ann Weber, whose work Colossal readers may recognize, along with that of Narsiso Martinez and Shigeru Ban. The show also highlights an iconic chair design by Frank Gehry, who died this month at the age of 96, plus contributions from Jodi Hays, Edgar Ramirez, Leonie Weber, Samuelle Richardson, Jabila Okongwu, and more.
In her own work, Ann Weber has long sought to subvert what we consider a purely functional, disposable medium. Her practice involves meticulously cutting, wrapping, and weaving strips of salvaged cardboard into bulbous, sometimes towering sculptures. Others also embrace this approach, like Martinez, who repurposes discarded produce boxes as a substrate for paintings and drawings, and Leonie Weber, whose painted and crumbled box assemblages appear almost like dyed and felted wool installations at first glance.
Ban’s sustainable approach to architecture using cardboard emphasizes how the medium can be transformed from cheap packaging material to humanitarian design, where tubes can be used as modular units to build rapid-response shelters.
Cardboard: Infinite Possibilities runs from January 2 to 30 in Los Angeles. See more on the gallery’s website.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Artists Embrace an Affordable and Ubiquitous Material in ‘Cardboard: Infinite Possibilities’ appeared first on Colossal.
newscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-22 04:00 pmcolossal_feed) wrote2025-12-22 03:56 pm
In São Paolo, a midcentury interior is reimagined into a “hybrid habitat” by architect Guto Requena. The project, called “Apartamento Varanda,” reimagines a modernist residence, originally constructed in 1962, with contemporary details that nod to its decades-old spirit while incorporating a particularly organic element in the form of lots and lots of plants.
Draped from rafters or bespoke frameworks, Brazilian botanicals create a green oasis indoors. What Requena describes as a “true urban forest” is then complemented by a range of iconic furnishings from both modernist and contemporary eras. See more on the studio’s website.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article A ‘Hybrid Habitat’ By Guto Requena Gives New Meaning to ‘Urban Jungle’ in São Paolo appeared first on Colossal.
newscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-22 12:00 pmnewscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-22 11:00 amcolossal_feed) wrote2025-12-22 11:19 am
Surreal Salon, the annual international exhibition celebrating the Pop-surrealism/Lowbrow movement, is returning to Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (BRG) for its 18th year. Held in partnership with Louisiana State University (LSU)’s School of Art, the show will be open to all at no cost from January 2 to 25, 2026, in Louisiana’s capital city.
This year’s multimedia edition features more than 60 artists from the U.S. and abroad, with pieces hand-picked by the show’s Special Guest Juror, Swoon, from a pool of nearly 800 works via a blind jurying process.
Every year, Surreal Salon celebrates the ever-evolving Pop-surrealist/Lowbrow art movement by inviting artists across the globe to submit works for consideration. The resulting selection always features paintings, photography, ceramics, textiles, mixed media works, and more.
Over the years, Surreal Salon has enlisted internationally renowned artists such as Ron English, Camille Rose Garcia, Marco Mazzoni, Beth Cavener, Greg “Craola” Simkins, and many others to serve as jurors and curate engaging, dynamic collections of work for the show. That tradition was renewed in 2026 as Swoon (a.k.a. Caledonia Curry) stepped into this role.
Curry is a Brooklyn-based street artist who, drawing on both realistic and fantastical elements, has created immersive installations, wheatpaste portraits, and community-based social justice projects for two decades. Her work has adorned the walls of institutions like New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and Tate Modern, while also appearing on the façades of built environments around the world.
Swoon will give a talk on Monday, January 26, hosted by LSU’s School of Art in conjunction with Surreal Salon 18. Free and open to all, the talk will touch on her career, her work, and her experience selecting the art for this show.
Before the exhibition’s closure, BRG will welcome hundreds of guests to channel their own pop-surrealist visions into elaborate costumes at The Surreal Salon Soiree on Saturday, January 24. The night will celebrate the show with live music from the band Bon Bon Vivant, two different DJ sets, food trucks, and several surprises. Tickets are on sale now, starting at just $40.
To learn more and to preview the works included in this year’s exhibition, visit batonrougegallery.org.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article ‘Surreal Salon 18,’ Curated by Swoon, to Open at Baton Rouge Gallery with 60+ Artists appeared first on Colossal.
newscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-22 10:00 amnewscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-22 06:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eller) wrote2025-12-21 10:41 pm
colossal_feed) wrote2025-12-19 06:29 pm
When considering Miguel Arzabe’s bold, woven works, it’s unsurprising that he begins by painting two abstract pieces. Vibrant fields of acrylic spread across his canvases before they’re sliced into long strips and reconfigured. Resulting are dynamic compositions that meld art historical traditions with Arzabe’s Bolivian heritage, drawing on longstanding Andean imagery and weaving practices.
Next month at Johansson Projects, the Oakland-based artist presents a collection of new wall works and suspended sculptures in Sin Contar Cincuenta. Arzabe refers to his practice as offering a “productive confrontation” of distinct cultures, approaches, and periods, and these new compositions continue his explorations into imagining spaces where differences exist in harmony.
The artist often roots his work in place and connections to a particular environment, and several pieces evoke vast landscapes and weather. “La Bahía de Niebla,” for example, echoes the dense opacity of Bay Area fog, while the elongated form reminiscent of an atoll sprawls across “Isla del Lago.”
Sin Contar Cincuenta is on view from January 17 to March 21 in Oakland. Find more from the artist on Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Abstract Paintings Confront Andean Weaving in Miguel Arzabe’s Dynamic Compositions appeared first on Colossal.
colossal_feed) wrote2025-12-19 03:19 pm
Lincolnshire-based artist Anthony Theakston continues his explorations of common birds like barn owls and herons, sculpting their likeness in sleek bronze and ceramic. Smooth wings and bodies contrast the fluffy feathers typical of fowl, as they hunch over or curl up as if taking a nap. Elegant and seemingly primed for flight, the avians perch between abstract and realistic representations.
Theakston has several exhibitions and fairs planned for 2026, including Naarden Art Fair and Brussels Affordable Art Fair with DeKunst Salon and the Washington Winter Show and Art Palm Beach with Gladwell and Patterson. He’s also represented by Gallery Bartoux, and you can find more of his work on Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Anthony Theakston Sculpts a Spirited Flock of Bronze and Ceramic Birds appeared first on Colossal.
newscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-19 02:42 pmnewscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-19 02:00 pmnewscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-19 01:00 pmnewscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-19 11:00 amnewscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-19 11:00 ami_support_street_art_feed) wrote2025-12-19 08:21 amThe new mural by Cleomenis Kostopoulos titled “Kalamata” has been completed and now a unique work of art is presented to the public, accessible to everyone, transforming a central point of Kalamata into a contemporary landmark.
It stands as an impressive example of how contemporary urban creativity can give new life to public space and transform an ordinary unsightly facade into a vibrant narrative that engages with every passerby.
At the heart of the work dominates the figure of a woman (Maria Callas), both imposing and familiar. Her calm yet penetrating gaze seems to follow the viewer, observing the world around her and inviting a more contemplative way of seeing the city. Around her unfolds a universe of nature: tree trunks woven like stories, fruits that reflect the land of Messinia, and birds moving lively within the composition.
This poetic coexistence of human and nature creates a bridge between the real and the symbolic, while maintaining a deep connection with the place. The intense color vocabulary, the symbolic details of the dress, and the dynamic presence of the figure and the birds give the work a sense of movement and renewal. The blue of the background functions like a window into another reality, opening up the space and inviting the viewer to dream, to travel, and to see the city anew.
Beyond its aesthetic value, the work ‘Kalamata’ contributes to the formation of a new cultural identity for the city. It serves as a reference point, a fertile dialogue between the old and the new, between tradition and contemporary artistic expression. It highlights Kalamata as a place that embraces creation, culture, and artistic interventions that add rhythm, depth, and color to everyday life. This particular mural is not just a work that decorates a façade; it is an invitation. It calls on everyone to pause for a moment, to lift one’s gaze high and remember the power of art that transforms public space and, even for a moment, perhaps even the person themselves.
The mural was created following an invitation to the artist from the Municipality of Kalamata and the Deputy Mayor of Strategic Planning and Climate Neutrality of Kalamata, Vasilis Papaefstathiou, with the valuable support of the Captain Vasilis and Karmen Konstantakopoulos Foundation, the Papadimitriou family, and the company Vechro.
Artist: Kleomenis Kostopoulos Title of the work: ‘Kalamata’ Aristomenous 34, Kalamata, 2025.
Kleomenis Kostopoulos is a visual artist and art director at the International Street Art Festival of Patras │ ArtWalk.
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newscientist_feed) wrote2025-12-19 12:00 am