Mapanare.us Constantly.Consuming.Culture. - Art

Jason Jacques Gallery (New York) Showed Work By Nick Weddell At Design Miami 2019

1/20/2020

Four Eyes

photo by Boyd Ogle II

Jason Jacques Gallery (New York) showed work by Nick Weddell at Design Miami 2019.

Weddell, from Austin, Texas, holds a BFA in ceramics from Texas State University and an MFAa from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.

Four Eyes is stoneware, porcelin and glaze. Even in person it somehow gives the idea of being plush. Weddell's work mixes the monstrous with the whimsical and colorful.

Todd Merrill Studio (New York) Showed Various Work At Design Miami 2019

1/19/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Todd Merrill Studio (New York) showed various work at Design Miami 2019.

Todd Merrill is the third generation of his family to work in the design business. They began collection eighteenth and nineteenth century American Furniture.

Obviously now they are helping design the furniture (and fine art pieces) of the 21st Century. They represent emerging and established artists with unique, and sometimes outlandish, views on design and functionality.

Future Perfect (New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles) Showed Work By Chris Wolston At Design Miami 2019

1/10/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Future Perfect showed work by Chris Wolston at Design Miami 2019.

The Nalgona dining chairs are made from Colombian Mimbre (wicker) which is sourced from the Amazon (and sourced responsibly). The chairs mimic not only the human form but plastic Remax chairs, which are apparently popular throughout Colombia.

Future perfect was founded 17 years ago by David Alhadeff. IN that time they have become one of the world's foremost design studios. Their work run from one of a kind to studio creations.

Find out more about the artist at www.chriswolston.com.

Pierre Marie Giraud (Brussels) Showed Work At Design Miami 2019

1/10/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Pierre Marie Giraud (Brussels) showed work at Design Miami 2019. They work in contemporary art, focusing on glass, ceramics and Japanese craft. They work with a variety of international artists and hold frequent themed group and solo shows throughout the year.

Wexler Gallery (Philadelphia) Presented "Street Shrine 1: A Notorious Story" By Roberto Lugo At Design Miami 2019

1/10/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Wexler Gallery (Philadelphia) presented Street Shrine 1: A Notorious Story, by Robert Lugo at Design Miami 2019. The installation features two large funeral urns and a ceramic teddy bear.

Lugo is a teacher, a poet, a social activist and a potter. He is from Philadelphia and started as a street artist before moving into ceramics. Wexler Gallery also showed work by him at Expo Chicago 2019.

This booth demonstrated a unified design by the artist, rather than the collection of pieces that were at Expo Chicago. It is a step beyond.

Rooms Studio Presented "In Circulation" By Nata Janberizde and Keti Toloraia, Part Of Curio At Design Miami 2019

1/10/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Rooms Studio presented In Circulaiton by Nata Janberizde and Keti Toloraia as part of Curio at Design Miami 2019. The two artists are from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. They formed as a team in 2006 right after leaving art school in Tblisi. You can read an article on the two at the New York Times.

Several pieces on the artists refer to how the Soviet Union collapsed when they were youngsters and also created what they do in something of a vacuum. Their work, while not "street art" in the sense of how we see these days, is inspired by actual street art, the carved symbols on school desks and park benches. In Circulation is a rumination upon these artifacts and a look at the reason we feel the need to leave behind such marks. Read more HERE.

Functional Art Gallery (Berlin) Showed Functional And, Sometimes, Monolithic Work At Design Miami 2019

1/9/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Functional Art Gallery (Berlin) showed functional, monolithic work at Design Miami 2019.

The striking blue booth featured pieces with both modern (in different senses of the word even) and ancient, for lack of a better word, "vibe."

Carpenter's Workshop Gallery (London, New York, Paris, San Francisco) Showed Work At Design Miami 2019

1/7/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Carpenter's Workshop Gallery (London, New York, Paris, San Francisco) showed work at Design Miami 2019.

The gallery produces, researches and exhibits functional sculpture. They show work by new and established artists. They also work with designers working outside their normal disciplines.

The gallery first opened in London's Chelsea in 2006. Their most recent one in San Francisco in 2018.

They are regulars at Paris Art & Design, Design Miami and The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF).

Kerr Gallery Showed African Art And Design As Part of Design Miami 2019's Curio Section

1/6/2020

photos by Boyd Ogle II

Kerr Gallery (Milwaukee) showed African art and design as part of Design Miami 2019's Curio section. Their booth was titled, Africa: Traditions-Art-Design and was curated by Reynold C. Kerr.

This piece is Fang Bellows from Gabon in West Africa. It is wood, metal, hide and natural pigments. It is, like many traditional pieces from West Africa, utilitarian.

The Fang live, not only in Gabon but Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon and are known for producing art in wood, iron and soapstone. The art often reflects their traditional religion, Bieri, which concerns itself not only with the living but with ancestors.

The University of Iowa website has more information on the Fang people and their art. Fang pieces are included in many, if not most, collections of African art.

Espoir Gallery (Nanjing) Showed Work By Zhao Nengzhi At Scope Miami Beach 2019

1/6/2020

Something On Her Mind #2

Espoir Gallery (Nanjing) showed work by Zhao Nengzhi at Scope Miami 2019.

Before reading about the artist and his intent, I wanted to look at these pieces and relive what I thought about them. They are portraits that are slightly distorted, adding an otherworldly air to the subject, something hinting at horror. The features are muted, smeared but still beautiful.

The Sichuan School, from where Zhao Nengzhi springs, has a common thread running through it, "scar art." It is something I cannot claim to actually grasp, this mult-generatlonal art movement, little known in the West..

Indeed Nengzhi is considered one of the "Memory Keepers" of the "New Scar" movement. His work is divided into a number of periods. The Crowd Wandering on the Streets series (1992) is where the artists sought to make himself one of the "others," one of the multitude wandering about the boulevards of the world. In 1997 he began his Facial Expression and Face series. This work was more flat and representational than previous work but they also are distant from realism or portraiture. The figures are like cryptographs the viewer must figure out.

Something On Her Mind #1