Art
SFMOMA Spotlights the Legacy of Lowrider Culture
SFMOMA lifted the veil on a new group exhibition that celebrates the legacy of lowrider car culture. Entitled Sitting on Chrome, the show will present works by artists Mario Ayala, Guadalupe Rosales and Rafa Esparza, along the institution's second floor galleries, as well as a collaborative mural specially created for the exhibition. Rather than divide each room to one specific artist, the exhibition is laid out in a way to reflect the intersectional ideas and experiences between each artist. Wrapped in a series of connotations and histories, the lowrider has been a cultural icon since the second half of the 20th century, particularly in Latino communities in California, Texas and the Southwest and popularized in music videos and films, from Cypress Hill to Boyz n the Hood. View this post ...
Enter ‘TOILETPAPER’s Bizarre Labyrinth of an Exhibition
TOILETPAPER magazine is known for its bold, vibrant and surreal photographic juxtapositions that throw the senses for a spin. Founded in 2010 by acclaimed visual artist Maurizio Cattelan and fellow Italian photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari, the cult publication unveiled a new exhibition at Mumbai's Nita Mukesh Ambani Centre entitled RUN AS SLOW AS YOU CAN. Characteristic of the photo publication, each element in the show, be it a wall, lamp or table fixture, is emblazoned with striking visuals that will rip apart any previous associations in place of paradoxical connections between reality and fantasy. When asked what constitutes a TOILETPAPER image, Ferrari previously noted that it would have to send a "shiver down the spine!" Mapped out across four distinct chapters, each section within the...
Patrick Martinez to Present “Ghost Land”: Featuring a Major Public Art Piece
Artist Patrick Martinez is set to present his most expansive series of works yet as part of an exhibition named "Ghost Land," in partnership with the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco (ICA SF)."Ghost Land" is set to feature a major public artwork alongside a large-scale sculptural installation. The exhibition is designed to highlight Martinez's "landscape" paintings, which ICA SF describes as "works that evoke the topography of personal, civic, and cultural loss."Through these upcoming works, the artist intends to bring urban histories to life as abstractions of the LA landscape and will do so using familiar materials like distressed stucco, spray paint, window security bars, vinyl signage, ceramic tile and neon -- simultaneously putting on display his diverse practice and range....
Yu Nagaba Reinterprets the Classic Bronze Nude in New Sculpture
Yu Nagaba is well-known for his simple doodle-like sketches that comment on a range of daily observations. Having worked with everyone under the sun, from Artek and Pokémon to UNIQLO and the Musée du Louvre, the Japanese artist typically reserves his creative expression for two dimensional surfaces. But for his latest collaboration with Avant Arte, Nagaba chose to reinterpret the classic bronze nude in his signature playful style.Entitled Toy Car, the limited edition sculpture features a woman melodramatically laying against her back with arms outstretched with Nagaba's minimal touch giving shape to the lifeless form, as an actual toy car lies beside her. As the artist's first figurative sculptural figure, the artwork revisits some of Nagaba's earlier works on paper, along with referencing...
Last Chance to Catch WhIsBe’s “Innocence Lost” Exhibition
New York-born and LA-based artist WhIsBe, whose moniker stands for "What Is Beautiful," has fixed his unique lens of social commentary on the issues of gun violence in the U.S. Particularly as it relates to the youth and mass school shootings.The artist describes his first LA solo exhibition, "Innocence Lost," as "a show utilizing the juxtaposition of how we used to see things as kids versus the reality of these things as adults. It’s not my responsibility to tell people what to think, more so to challenge what they believe and create a catalyst for their own true narrative."Known for his "Vandal Gummy" sculptures, which picture playful silhouettes that are often accompanied by powerful, provocative, or thought-provoking text -- WhIsBe has found himself in a unique position to keep difficu...
Dave White’s “Extinct” Series Arrive at Kiklo Spaces
British artist Dave White had completed his “Extinct” series over the course of 18 months, and it was done in absolute secrecy. The collection was previously exhibited at the Hang-Up Gallery in 2021 and has finally settled into a new home at Kiklo Spaces in Petersfield, Hampshire.With “Extinct,” this also marks the first of Loughran Gallery’s residencies at the multi-dimensional club for art and supercar connoisseurs.“For the past decade I have created works that focus on the inhabitants of the natural world, their beauty is something we take for granted in the abstracted world we live in. Their fragility and scarcity and their fight for survival has been the catalyst and focus of my work,” said White.Get a glimpse of the artwork and atmosphere of the space in the gallery above.Dave White’...
James Edson’s ‘Rabbit Hole’ Book Documents 25 Years of London Skate Crew PWBC
Sheffield-born skater James Edson is a prolific member of the British skate community, hitting the ramps with PWBC for decades. The London-based skate crew has traveled worldwide to demonstrate their onboard abilities, documented for the first time in Edson's photography book Rabbit Hole. The skater and founder of London's Wayward Gallery captures his fellow skaters participating in everyday activities while showcasing their strong bond on and off deck. The photographs are documented in black and white film, blasted on multi-dimensional double-page spreads. The 146-page hardback features white covers illustrated by artist John Knight, flipping through the pages to discover Edson's friends in action. Annotated by skater and writer Stuart Hammond, some portraits are shot inside hospitals aft...
Daniel Arsham and Galerie Perrotin Will Celebrate 20 Years in Dual Exhibition
From touring massive eroded sculptures, collaborating with Pokémon on his very own mini episode to being appointed as the creative director for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Daniel Arsham hasn't left many boxes unchecked over the past 20 years. Throughout it all, gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin has played an essential role in nurturing the New York-based artist's growth to the meteoric status he's at today through a range of exhibitions at his global outposts. To celebrate their 20-year partnership, next month Perrotin will host a dual exhibition of Arsham's work at its Paris and New York locations. With space and materiality in mind, the show will explore many key moments within Arsham's career, particularly an upcoming collaboration with Star Wars, such as a series of new eroded sculptures made ...
Converse x Phaidon x Design Museum Present ‘Skateboard,’ A Chronicle of Countercultural Design
Publishing house Phaidon has partnered with the Design Museum in London to present Skateboard, a multimedia project that explores the evolution of skateboard design from the ‘50s to today. The venture includes a book and an exhibition, both curated by American industrial designer Jonathan Olivares, and was executed in collaboration with Converse, a brand ingrained in the sports’ inception.The curation explores the cultural peaks of skateboarding through analysis of over 100 significant decks, following notable design changes and historical turning points. In this marriage of counterculture and aesthetics, the skateboard is positioned as a social symbol and an artistic object. Across six themes, organized chronologically by decade, Skateboard studies the material, design, and events that de...
Jeffrey Gibson to Represent the U.S. Pavilion at 2024 Venice Biennale
Choctaw-Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson has been selected to represent the U.S. pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Born in Colorado and now based in Upstate New York, Gibson is the first Indigenous artist to be chosen for the honor and will create a number of monumental new installations for the event as part of an exhibition commissioned by the Portland Art Museum in Oregon and SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico.Defined by chromatic hits of color overlaid with haiku-like messaging, Gibson's artwork challenges the lack of Indigenous representation in visual culture. Not reserved to one particular medium, the artist utilizes a range of materials and subject matter, from glass, beads, steel and paint to American, Indigenous and Queer histories — resulting in artworks that exude the hybrid nature ...
Through the Lens: Art History Meets Football Kit Royalty in Louis Bever’s Intimate Portraiture
It may be ubiquitous these days to find one’s image plastered across a family living room, an Instagram feed or the endless scroll of our camera rolls. But for much of human history, only those who came from power and wealth had the means to have their portrait either painted or photographed.More than just a method of preservation, the classic genre of portraiture was a social and political tool to project one's status and influence — a device that was largely reserved for a select few. Namely, kings, queens, barons, dukes — the posh type who flaunted their influence through elaborate palaces, decor and of course, fashion. While it may be funny to see what was once in vogue hundreds of years in the past — think wigs, medici collars, breeches — future societies will likely have a similar ta...
Company Behind “Immersive Van Gogh” Files for Bankruptcy
Amongst the many trends to come and go within art over the past few years, immersive exhibitions were certainly some of the most viral. One of the major companies behind these events, Lighthouse Immersive Inc., has filed for bankruptcy. First reported by Bloomberg, the Toronto-based company, which operates shows on the wildly popular event on Vincent Van Gogh, as well as similar iterations on Mozart, Monet, Frida Kahlo and King Tut, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in Delaware in an attempt to protect its U.S. assets. Having launched in 2021, "Immersive Van Gogh" has exhibited across the world in cities, such as Toronto and New York — sparking a league of imitators and even being featured in the hit Netflix series, Emily in Paris. While the organizers of the event were able to sell over 250...
