Hasta La Ideas

Moody sculptural paintings by an emerging NYC artist

Stark yet colorful works that fall somewhere between painting and sculpture, NYC-based artist Eli Ping’s practice is a study of unexpected tension in form, subject and tone. Ping says he’s “ultimately interested in materials and process, and accomplishing a form that conveys energetic resonance to the viewer,” a feat accomplished by keeping spontaneity alive in otherwise highly-considered compositions.

This ruminative approach to art-making shows up in his current solo exhibition at NYC’s Susan Inglett Gallery, but also signals a shift. Where he previously worked heavily with resins, Ping found that their toxicity was a “major impediment to accomplishing intimacy” with his materials and switched to applying paint-soaked cotton to canvas.

The resulting fluid shapes have a sense of order without appearing overly worked—a tipping point for Ping. If a piece becomes too “fussy,” he will often flip it over or turn it upside down, a technique borrowed from Impressionism. Ping explains, “they would often paint over an entire area, some people would say that is a waste of energy but even if it’s not visible, it still informs the work.”

A painting resembling a classic Rorschach test clearly illustrates Ping’s labor between intention and impulse. While symmetry abounds, he likens the unbalanced composition’s structure to that of nature. Repetition develops organically without feeling forced, the result of a process that, like contemporaries such as designer Maarten Baas, lets ideas evolve over time.

A photo of a church steeple shot through a drinking glass several years ago, now appears as a “stretched from the top” form in some of his sculptural pieces. Ping stresses that he doesn’t set out to replicate what he sees, adding “I have a sense of what qualities I aspire to, usually in response to a feeling of lack in a previous piece. Any pre-envisioning doesn’t go farther than that.”

Looking to the future however, Ping says his work will fall more in line with his simplified lifestyle. Moving forward he will create pieces that, unlike his current complex and often quite fragile works, need not “to be handled with kid gloves” and can instead become a part of a person’s life, rather than just hung on a wall.

Eli Ping’s third solo exhibition runs through 4 June 2011 at Susan Inglett Gallery.

Given the events of recent days, we’re thinking we should start a new weekly feature called “This Week in Artist Arrests.” We’re hoping we don’t have to, but if things continue as they’ve been, consider this the inaugural post. First up, another detainment by Chinese officials of someone connected to artist Ai Weiwei, who was arrested himself and has now been missing for several weeks. Adding to the growing list of other friends, relatives and colleagues who have been whisked away to points unknown, this week popular Chinese musician Zuoxiao Zuzhou and his wife Xiao Li were apprehended by government officials and have not been heard from since. As the Guardian reports, Zuzhou, a longtime friend of the missing artist, had written a piece for a Hong Kong newspaper entitled, “Who Doesn’t Love Ai Weiwei?” the day before he and his wife were detained.

Closer to home, the round-up of street artists continues in Los Angeles. Following French artist Space Invader‘s arrest last week, the LA Times reports that popular “graffiti writer” Revok has been arrested at LAX “as he prepared to board a plane for Ireland.” The artist was charged with having violated his probation related to earlier vandalism charges and has now been sentenced to 180 days in jail. Both Invader and Revok have pieces in LA MoCA‘s current and controversial Art in the Streets exhibition, which has caught the ire of local officials who claim the show glorifies graffiti and has spawned an increase in vandalism in the area.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Steel is real”—or so they say. Designer Josh Hadar takes this pithy statement to heart, crafting some of the wildest steel fabrications we’ve ever seen. The New Museum’s “Festival of Ideas” will see Hadar’s first exhibition, “The Evolution of Steel,” showcasing several years’ worth of eco-conscious bike and ‘tree’ designs from his eponymous metal shop.

New sculptural art installations… bring evolving environmental technologies to the forefront of the art world, [including] the first completely solar powered electric vehicles and photovoltaic steel trees, all with Hadar’s innovative and unique flair.

Video and more after the jump…

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Six designs from the 2011 NY Auto Show we’d love to see in production

Concept cars serve two purposes: To create an allure and desire for a brand and to explore style and technology innovations that influence a maker’s range of cars in a more accessible time frame. Most of these cars had their debut at other recent shows, but all are alluring and insightful in how they will influence upcoming models.

Saab’s PhoeniX combines a sleek sports body with a highly engineered, efficient propulsion system. The all-wheel drive hybrid sports a 200hp, 1.6-litre turbo engine to power the front wheels while the rear is powered by an electrically driven axle. Its sexy lines are an insight into design director Jason Castriota’s vision for the brand we’re all hoping makes its way into upcoming cars. It’s camera-driven rear view mirrors and super-slick butterfly doors provide an accessible yet futuristic feel.

It’s always exciting when a company reinvents a classic. Volkswagen revisits its iconic microbus model with their Bulli concept, a six-seater driven by an electric motor with a 186-mile range. Further enabling drivers to leverage their devices instead of being tied to a car’s tech, the infotainment system is driven by an iPad. VW says this flexible beauty is headed for production in 2014.

Striking lines and a sleek design come together in this nontraditional concept of the age-old touring sedan. The Lexus LF-Gh is probably the boldest hybrid of recent times. Designed for the low emission standards of the future and the style, performance and efficiency demands of today.

Scion‘s FRS-8 is based on a platform that Toyota used for its recently introduced FT-86 II concept and that will power the rear-wheel drive Subaru Boxer when it goes into production in 2012. Scion’s take is our favorite, and one we’d love to see go into production.

Designed specifically for city dwellers, Cadillac’s Urban concept seats four and is driven by a 1.0-liter three cylinder engine. The compact package and use of electric assist technology gets this vehicle an estimated 56mpg in the city, and despite its small size it comfortably surrounds you in Cadillac luxury.

One of the few cars unveiled at the show, the A-class concept maintains its Mercedes-Benz DNA and infuses it with a welcome youthful twist. In addition to its sporty and sleek design the car features a new turbocharged 4 cylinder engine, a dual clutch transmission, advanced collision protection and braking systems.

Japanese folklore, Buddhism and vector graphics in an emerging NYC artist’s latest work

Before receiving a degree in Industrial Design from RISD, the artist known as Mr. Kiji began his art training with an apprenticeship in Nepal studying Tibetan Buddhist Thangka painting. While Kiji says the method is still relevant and informs his current work, he claims there’s no “obvious correlation in terms of composition and aesthetics.” Instead, the Japanese native cites “Japanese folklore and Buddhism” as current influences. Either way, we won’t argue. The results—fantastical scenes layering vivid color, images, symbols, patterns and abstractions—if nothing else accomplish the feat of bringing a barrage of subjects into harmony for paintings as equally kinetic as they are unified.

The NYC-based painter’s latest works, four of which are on display in the group show “Spectrum” at NYC’s Mallick Williams Gallery, are part of Kiji’s ongoing series called “My Drifting Life in a Floating World.” He describes them as a study on the “current and past events both public and personal in the context of traditional Ukioy-e woodblock-based style also commonly known as ‘Floating World’ prints.”

Specifically, Kiji references Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s 1859 woodblock print “Events in the Ansei Period” as the initial inspiration for his recent work. His colorful interpretations keep to Kuniyoshi’s theme, depicting a large fish blamed for causing an earthquake with its intense thrashing—an image that later came to symbolize both the forces of destruction and rebirth. But, positioning himself firmly within contemporary practices, Kiji’s lines show his background as an illustrator, with geometric shapes hinting at vector graphics.

The young artist’s versatility has already landed him gigs for the New York Times’ Op-Ed section, making textile designs for snowboard garb, executing large-scale paintings for hotel rooms at the Ace NYC and designing charity footballs for Maxim’s Superbowl party. (Check out these and more in the gallery, as well as his work on the Electric Windows project in our 2008 video.)

“Spectrum” opens today at Mallick Williams Gallery and runs through 1 June 2011.