After another year of intense traveling for their respective crafts, artists and longtime friends Sandro Kopp, Stefan Strumbel, SMASH137, Andreas von Chrzanowki and Ruediger Glatz are meeting up in Heidelberg for their third annual group show, INSIGHTS. As the name implies, the site-specific installation is a chance for these…
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A woman sits nonchalantly in a bland office chair under an interrogatory fluorescent light, with her long bare legs crossed in front of her. She appears to be some demonic temptress of a business woman, fixing us with a stare over horn-rimmed glasses, her jet black hair styled into…
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While exploring the many hubs at London Design Festival last month we came across “Bon-Voyager,” a modest display of creative concept products by a select group of young Korean designers. Supported by Korea Design Membership, a government-run initiative to nurture the nation’s best design talent, and presented by University…
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A group show breaks down the iconography of signage
Carlo McCormick, senior editor of PAPER Magazine and co-author of “Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art,” recently unveiled his curated show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York. “Détournement: Signs of the Times” is an exhibition of work composed of familiar signs that have been modified by iconoclastic artists. A term first used by Letterist International in the 1950s, McCormick describes détournement in his curator’s statement as “a detour of sorts, but not so much along the scenic route as over the tougher road that goes more directly to the truth.”
“We live in a forest of signs that are meant to confuse, distract and numb us to the more dire consequences of the human condition as it is,” writes McCormick. “We do not need to follow these signs, we need to make our own so as to find a way out of the mess we are in.” A shortlist of the 20 artists involved includes Zevs, Shepard Fairey, Posterboy, Steve Powers AKA “Espo” and Aiko. Collectively, the group attempts to reverse the persuasive nature of advertorial and cultural signs by jostling the viewer.
In hosting the exhibition, Jonathan LeVine Gallery continues its dedication to subversive street and pop art. A few standout pieces from the show include “Am I Dead Yet?” by Jack Napier and Billboard Liberation Front, Martin Wong‘s “Traffic Sign for the Hearing Impaired” and “Incredible Edible Cathy Cowgirl” by Ron English.
“Détournement: Signs of the Times” is on view now through 25 August 2012.
Seven artists tackle organizational and cultural systems
An innovative group exhibition, “Systemic” at Carolina Nitsch Project Room tasked seven artists to submit work representative of their relationship to process and organization. The result is a mixed bag of takes on systems and structures that range from the mathematical to the organic. Each personal approach has implications for collective behavior, with the exhibition functioning as a kind of societal meditation on the way we process our surroundings.
We recognized E.V. Day‘s “Pollinator” from Art Basel, and her three-dimensional reflective sculptures of mirrored flower organs held up the playful, free-form end of the organizational spectrum. Richard Dupont presents the strangely appealing “Head Head”, made from solid cast polyurethane resin. Dupont embedded the larger sculpture with masks cast from his own face as well as masks of random celebrities—ranging from Leonard Nimoy to Beethoven—that were sourced from the Internet.
Within the cast head, Dupont included aged epoxy rapid prototypes of himself and his wife as well as two antique glass heads. The work was especially interesting in the context of the show, providing a physical representation of mankind’s organizational system in real space. Dupont’s use of biography and pop culture in the masks created a narrative of memory and storytelling that informed other works within the exhibition.
Also of note are Tauba Auerbach‘s die-cut paper sculptures. Completely collapsable, “[2, 3]” is a series of giant pop-up books that unfold into wild geometric forms and can be closed to become books at any point. Another geometric work, “Spiral (for LB)” by Alyson Shotz is a life-sized hanging sculpture inspired by Louise Bourgeois’ “Spiral Woman”. The sculpture’s reflective surface plays with light in the space, changing according to day and season.
A floor-to-ceiling woodcut print comes courtesy of Aaron Spangler. Titled “Christian Separatist Home Birth”, the piece is constructed from basswood panels that were sourced from northwestern Minnesota, where the artist lives. Adjoining this piece was “Speech Bubble” by Jürgen Drescher, an amorphous silver-plated sculpture that distorts the viewer’s reflection. Spencer Finch exhibited “The River That Flows Both Ways”, a sequence of handmade paper panels that show the change in color of the Hudson River throughout the day.
“Systemic” is on view at Carolina Nitsch Project Room through 11 August 2012.
Carolina Nitsch Project Room
534 West 22nd Street
New York, NY 10011
A Cool Hunting, Architizer and Dwell collaboration celebrating the newest in architectural design
For this year’s Noho Design District, part of New York’s Design Week, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Architizer and Dwell to present SCALE, a collection of objects and prototypes that explore the relationship of furniture and architecture.
Architects have been known to use furniture as a prototyping method for their creations and with this as our starting point we’ve collected works from architects and designers—some at the top of their game, others just starting out—including Snarkitecture, Bec Brittain, Katie Stout, Seth Keller, Studio DROR, Kiel Mead, Thaddeus Wolfe and more. From Jason Payne’s “Disco Ball” for Hirsuta to the process-driven “Sprue” candelabras by Fort Standard, we think the final collection captures some of the most interesting intersections of architecture and design today.
SCALE
Friday 18 – Sunday 21 May 2012
12 Noon to 7:00 p.m. daily
The Standard East Village
And don’t forget to stop by the accompanying Sonos Listening Library while you’re there.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
