Not an Oil Painting: Flowering Tree in The Rain (All Photos By Gail)
We haven’t had much of a winter in NYC, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to spring! In fact, the siting of 14th street’s first flowering tree of the season made me think back to May of 2019, when my pal Jamie and I made plans to attend the annual Cherry Blossom Festival (Sakura Matsuri) at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The fact that it happened to be pouring down rain that day did not dampen our adventurous spirits! Continue reading Ten Flowers Photographed in the Rain→
Designer Claudia Li’s autumn/winter 2020 collection, entitled 3.16.19, is a tribute to her grandfather, who passed away in 2019. The designs in the collection reflect Li’s memories of him, the imprint of their experiences together in China, and the creative ability passed through generations.
American cochineal, a small parasitic insect that feeds on the prickly pear cactus, was for centuries the source of the most coveted red pigment in the world. Imbued with profound artistic, cultural, and economic significance for indigenous peoples of Mexico and the Andean Highlands of South America, cochineal was transformed into a widely-traded global commodity upon European contact in the 16th century. While historically it was favored for its ability to produce a highly desirable crimson red, the insect’s red carminic acid can yield shades ranging from soft pink to deep purple. Continue reading Pink Thing Of The Day: Fernando Laposse’ Cochineal-Dyed Sisal Shade Lamp→
Avery Singer (b. 1987), who was named for American painter Milton Avery (1885 – 1965) by her artist parents began using an airbrush in 2012 to expand onto canvas the geometric illustrations she composed in the open-source computer program SketchUp, a favorite of designers and architects for three-dimensional rendering.
Enlarging these imagined, gridded interiors by hand into paintings such as Screen Burn (2019) is a central part of the artist’s work, in which she deftly combines digital rendering and analog studio practice for a new generation.
Photographed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
A unique take on the concept of ‘Indoor/Outdoor’ furniture is perhaps unintentionally offered in British artist Jonathan Trayte’s recent exhibit of sculptural art furniture, MelonMelonTangerine, at Freidman Benda Gallery. Intended to transport the viewer to an otherworldly botanical garden, pieces like the Black Dakota Lamp (2019) combine industrial materials such as stainless steel, bronze, polymer compound, and reinforced plastics, and brass leaver, with a base covered in crushed glass, and blown-glass light sconces to create an eclectic light-emitting tree.
This and other works in the collection were inspired by Trayte’s recent 2000-mile road trip through the Western United States. With a keen perception and eye for the obscure, the artist finds the surreal in our everyday surroundings and within the fabric of daily life. Realized while in isolation amidst the current pandemic, he recalls hazy visions of sedimentary rock formations, Joshua trees, lichens, silver cholla cacti and prickly pear fruits to inform this new body of work. We are excited to be featuring more whimsical works from MelonMelonTangerine in the coming weeks!
