German artist Peter Pink uses vegetables as a medium, turning a sack of potatoes into a tiny conceptual army that takes on stereotypes in a way that’s flippant and funny. More than stereotypes though, more like popular thought and going along with the program because of how easy it is to blend in and give up and believe what they tell you. Pink positions the miniature crowds on the streets of Berlin, the short round potatoes forever the enemy of every tall skinny cucumber.
Which is why the little protesting potatoes are the best – they hold pink flags that match their glasses and the ticket tape that separates them from the sidewalk. Last year Peter Pink even organized a potato flash mob, posting the instructions and images needed to make your own little potato people, and asking people to leave them on the sidewalk in front of a McDonald’s branch in Berlin.
She leans forward laughing, and her hair streams behind her head like the tail of a shooting star. Dan McDermott’s paintings put the scene in fast forward, including present and almost-present scenes together in a way that makes the action look like it’s happening at light speed.
In the stiller scenes, the paint casts the image through a 1950s television screen – almost clear but with slightly distorted colors and fuzzy details. McDermott’s paintings shows the past as we would remember it if we’d lived through it ourselves – fleeting happy memories and faces frozen in time.
Good Times I, 2010 Oil on canvas
McDermott is represented by the Mark Jason Gallery in London, which writes,
“His extensive body of work is derived from an ever expanding archive of images that for him have an emotional resonance, frozen frames from film and television that are trapped within the decades from which they were born.
The final choice of image will have gone through several layers of processed visual media which McDermott is somehow able to capture in the fast and energetic application of paint.”
Red Dress, 2007 Oil On Canvas
Model, 2008 Oil on canvas
For more of Dan McDermott’s work, see his website.
Jeffro Uitto scours the Washington coast for perfect pieces of driftwood, then spends years combining and carving them into wondrous works of art. He makes functional pieces like extravagant chairs, benches and tables, and his animal sculptures have garnered a lot of press lately, but I think his conceptual sculpture is where it’s at.
The wood is so polished and smooth, it’s like nature’s been brought to perfection, especially since a lot of the works stand tall just like trees would. He photographs the works on the beach too, taking them back to the place where he first found the wood to begin with and making his whole artistic process cyclical and complete.
“Wherever he might be, Tokeland, WA is where Jeffro’s heart is. While enjoying the sound of the waves, Jeff will be working away at his next creation… Visitors are surprised to see that many of Jeffro’s tools are hand made by the artist himself. After you get to know him this isn’t surpising at all. Jeffro has a creative fire that burns hot and it keeps him going full speed when he’s working (and playing). ”
Jed Leiknes’ work is kind of frightening, but in a haunted house/horror movie kind of way. Flesh melts and skulls stare straight at you without eyes. Everything looks like it’s on fire but somehow isn’t burning. The paint looks so alive, like somehow it’s still moving even after it’s dry.
Which is what makes Leiknes’ time lapse video so consuming – you watch the paint in action before the show even starts. Because the colors don’t really get to work until the image is complete.
Antonio Corradini lived from 1668 until June 1752, and he worked as a Rococo sculptor in Venice. There’s not a lot known about him, but he’s most famous for his veiled women, and it’s not hard to see why.
Her smooth skin shines right through the thin ripples of the veil resting softly – it spills off noses and ears like tiny waterfalls of marble. But the eyes can always be seen so clearly, closed against the veil pressed against them.
Bust of a Veiled Woman (Puritas), 1717-25 Marble Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice source.
Corradini played a huge role in solidifying the role of sculptors as ‘artists’ in the early 18th century. In 1723 he is supposed to have been the first person to legally separate the professions of sculptors and stonemasons, creating a school for sculptors and developing it as an official artistic profession.
His “Portrait of Modesty” (below) lives in the Naples museum, Cappella Sansevero, and her posture and accessories make it look like she was made for a church, even though she’s nearly naked through that thin thin veil – standing casually beautiful with eyes closing.
“Modesty,” 1751 Marble, Cappella Sansevero, Napoli source.
Full disclosure: all info from Corradini’s Wikipedia page.
About
Hi, I'm Lindsey and welcome to 'things worth describing,' an art blog dedicated to finding meaning in aesthetic simplicity.
