Art in the Sphere of Gratitude
Egg Bed Crystal Shell, 2014Plywood, cotton fabric, polyamide textile, polyurethane foam, semiprecious stones, and pulley Life is for enjoyment and happiness. To Ernesto Neto, one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, this is not just a statement about the purpose of life. This is what he does with his art work, which provides his viewers with an irresistible [...]
The Flip Side of Consciousness: Mamma Andersson Behind the Curtain
From the Series of Essays Ritual Practices by Elaine Smollin In Mamma Andersson paintings, what is apparent is always the flip side of consciousness. The present may as well be the past, while the past with its heavy hand, can deftly reveal a sudden lightness of being. From where comes this painter’s dialectics? An Andersson painting is never about what [...]
Voices For My Father
Ceiling high works that can measure as long as seven meters. All-over paint and collages of precious metals, bumper stickers, rubber tires, cracked eggs, a hundred dollar bills in Ziploc bags, trash. Overwhelming in scale, dynamic in sense of color and texture. For Michael Chow, better known as the celebrity co-founder and owner of the upscale Mr. Chow restaurant chain, [...]
Remember the Land
by Light-man The symbiotic relationship between the artist and the land, the soil, natural elements is gaining momentum as the world is more aware of the woes of growing environmental crisis. Already this issue concerns basic human survival, just as what the Land Art movement in the 70s predicted when they pioneered an art that directly addressed to the [...]
Eric Holzman: Disclosure
From the Series of Essays Ritual Practices by Elaine Smollin The vision of deities and their familiars, among animals, tends to exclude humans from those with the ability to see the progress of eternal forces in the actual world. Perhaps this is because our vision is more pragmatic. Unlike dogs and birds, we don’t feel the swelling tsunami. [...]
After the Revolution: Neo Rauch and David Salle
From the series of essays Ritual Practices by Elaine Smollin On the road from Frankfurt-am-Main to Leipzig, departing Hessen into Thuringia, a vast heap of salt towers above the passerby. This inert, looming, giant byproduct of industry dwarfs the relevance of anything nearby. The power of its sheer enormity stuns the senses, pressing the improbability that we can stack [...]