Based on a true story during the Cold War, Firebird follows a handsome, soulful young soldier who embarks on a clandestine sexual affair with a charismatic fighter pilot on an Air Force Base in occupied Estonia at the height of 1970’s Communist rule.
In theatres April 29th, 2022
TweetRicky Swallow’s sculptures begin with ordinary, domestic materials that are then cast in bronze to create carefully honed final objects. For over two decades, Swallow has explored the process of conversion that takes place when an object or combination of materials becomes a sculpture. His initial objects are always made by hand; their tactile imperfections enduring into the casting process. Once cast at the foundry, Swallow’s bronzes continue to be worked on in the studio, his participation a critical part of maintaining connection and control over the final form of the work. Latent references to painting, and specifically the Dutch still life tradition, resonate both in the figurative dimensions of his work as well as in its conceptual underpinnings. But these references are never uncomplicated, the trompe-l’œil effect for instance, present in Swallow’s work since its beginning, has always been a means to an end, an attention trap, or a way to slow down perception and experience – rather than an end in itself. What becomes important is the tactility and physical presence of the sculptural components, a registered and experienced behaviour of the elements comprising each piece.
Opposite – Skewed Relief #1, 2022
Exhibition runs through to May 14th, 2022
Modern Art
7 Bury Street
SW1Y 6AL
London
The presentation, which brings together two of her recent film installations and a selection of her sculptural works from the past decade, highlights Barba’s continuous engagement with the representational function of images and language as they are channeled through cinematic apparatuses.
For Barba, cinema is a sovereign and speculative instrument that critically questions the singular properties of space and time, opening up the boundaries of traditional perception. Barba challenges linear modes of presenting and organizing knowledge by reshaping and representing imagery from scientific disciplines, such as astronomy and geology, as well as cultural archives, through shifts in gesture, genre, as well as the decontextualization of information and documents. The films, installations, and sculptures in this exhibition situate her work between experimental documentary and fictional narrative, and an oscillating logic is put forth, one that reflects how information is processed and transformed.
Opposite – Installation view
Exhibition runs through to May 21st, 2022
Luhring Augustine Tribeca
17 White Street
NY 10013
New York
Paint-by-Numbers is an exhibition that revolves around contemporary artists who take a conceptual approach to painting, often following non-established production methods such as painting with industrial fabrics, logotypes, graphic designs, the cross, LEGO bricks, smartphones, borrowed motifs, or simply an empty stretcher bar, thus raising the question: How can you hone painting down to its bare conceptual bones while keeping it pertinent? In 1962, Andy Warhol introduced a series of paintings based on the famous DIY art kit Paint-by-Numbers. Thereby he was countering the predominant style of abstract expressionism and its adoration of highly subjective gestures.
Warhol’s conceptual approach, by contrast, was detached, calculating, but painterly nonetheless.
Sixty years after Warhol’s brainchild, and when figurative painting is in high demand, the group show Paint-byNumbers gathers contemporary artists who follow Warhol’s legacy by painting from a conceptual angle and following instructions, resulting in the use of painting as a sheer vehicle. Applying multiple styles in parallel, often confounding abstraction and figuration, these artists reveal a penchant for appropriation and mimicry when impasto or brushstrokes are staged as a mere quotation of the look of painting.
Opposite – Installation view
Exhibition runs through to May 28th, 2022
Galerie Eva Presenhuber
Maag Areal
Zahnradstrasse 21
CH-8005 Zürich
Switzerland
Elbo has just released two new dinosaur vinyl art toys with Hypebeast’s HBX. Primarily known for his creative glass pipes, the artist’s Gray Ptery and Gray Steggo editions are the latest colorways of his pterodactyl and stegosaurus figures. The toy designs are directly inspired by Elbo’s popular line of dinosaur-themed pipes. Since these dropped on 420, there just might be a ‘faded’ connection here.
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Curtice Taylor imagines a young English gentleman moving to New York City in the late 19th century. He is the third son of a well-to-do, perhaps aristocratic family. Not in line for major inheritance or title, the imaginary man came to America where the prosecution for his private proclivities were less severe. Well-educated like other men of his class, he was also intrigued by the scientific breakthroughs of the day from Darwinism to archeology. Photography, the very new, scientific process for capturing reality, particularly fascinated him. Upon arriving in the city, he joined one of the many flourishing camera clubs and soon found a studio with north-facing light overlooking Union Square.
Opposite – Joseph 2
Exhibition runs through to April 30th, 2022
ClampArt
247 West 29th Street, Ground Floor
New York
NY 10001
