Tag Archives: moca

Modern Art Monday Presents: The Candy Store By Richard Estes

candy store richard estes photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

At first glance, The Candy Store (1969) by Richard Estes looks like a photograph. But spend a moment with it, and the illusion begins to unfold into something far more complex.

Painted at the height of the emerging Photorealism movement, The Candy Store captures a New York City storefront window filled with jars of sweets, signage, and fluorescent lighting. Yet what makes the painting so compelling isn’t just the meticulous detail — it’s the layered reflections that transform a simple shop window into a study of perception. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: The Candy Store By Richard Estes

Modern Art Monday Presents: Chanel Lipsticks By Nur Koçak

chanel lipsticks by nur koçak photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

There’s a certain kind of image that doesn’t just sell a product—it sells a fantasy. In her 1988 painting Chanel Lipsticks, Turkish photorealist Nur Koçak captures that phenomenon with striking precision — and then quietly dismantles it.

At first glance, the work looks like a page torn from a glossy magazine. A lineup of pristine lipsticks, unmistakably tied to Chanel, gleams under perfect lighting. The surfaces are immaculate, the colors rich, the composition seductive. Everything about it signals luxury, control, and desire. It’s the kind of image designed to make you want — not just the lipstick, but the life it promises.
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Modern Art Monday Presents: Happiness by Victor Estrada

happiness by victor estrada photo by gail worley
Photos By Gail

At first glance, Happiness (199495) by Victor Estrada seems to promise exactly what its title suggests: something bright, buoyant, and easy to love. The sculpture greets viewers with a riot of color and a playful, almost cartoonish presence. But as is often the case with Estrada’s work, things get more complicated the longer you look. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Happiness by Victor Estrada

Modern Art Monday Presents: Kelly Akashi, Monument (Regeneration)

kelly akashi monument regeneration photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

Kelly Akashi’s work often explores the impermanence of the natural world. In 2024‘s Monument (Regeneration), the artist draws inspiration from nature’s regenerative resilience. A delicately latticed borosilicate-glass sphere – balanced between fragility and strength – rests a top a weathered, steel plinth reminiscent of a tree trunk.
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Modern Art Monday Presents: Martin Kippenberger, Disco Bomb

martin kippenberger disco bomb photo by gail worley
Photo By Gail

At first glance, Disco Bomb (1989) looks like a joke you might spot after midnight: a mirrored disco ball topped with a synthetic orange wig. But in the hands of German artist Martin Kippenberger (19531997) , that punchline becomes a pointed meditation on surface, identity, and cultural excess.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Martin Kippenberger, Disco Bomb