Patrick Jacobs

Gold Cap Cluster #2, 2011. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BK7 glass. 2-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: approximately 10.6 (wide) x 14.4 (high) x 8.75 (deep) inches.

  

I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised by this year's contemporary section at the Armory Show. The past few years had left me fairly underwhelmed, but I actually found quite a lot to like about this year's group of galleries and artists.  Of course, there are always a few stand-outs, and Patrick Jacobs and his miniature, bucolic sculptures was definitely one of my favorites.

 Fairy Ring with Dandelions, 2010. Styrene, acrylic, neoprene, hair, paper, polyurethene foam, wood, hair, steel, lighting, BK7 glass. 8-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: 48.25 (wide) x 30.25 (high) x 23.25 (deep) inches.

Fairy Ring Mushroom Cluster #5, 2012. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BK-7 Glass 2-inch exposed lens. Interior box 10.6 x 14.4 x 8.75 inches.

Raked Leaves (Detail), 2011. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BK7 glass. 7.5-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: approximately 33 (wide) x 28 (high) x 28 (deep) inches.

Fly Agaric Cluster #2, 2011. Styrene, acrylic, cast neoprene, paper, polyurethane foam, hair, wood, steel, lighting, BL7 glass. 2-inch exposed lens. Interior box dimensions: approximately 14 (wide) x 10 (high) x 9 (deep) inches.

Each of Jacobs' works is a meticulously constructed, three-dimensional diorama installed within the wall and viewed through a circular glass lens. Even with the dimensions listed, it's difficult to get a sense of the scale of these works, but the illusion that's created by them, which gives the viewer a sense of peering into a secret, seemingly infinite landscape, is both otherworldly and magical.

Jacobs draws inspiration from sources as diverse as historical landscape painting and contemporary chemical companies’ home and garden pest control brochures, such as Chevon’s Ortho Books. Recalling the Claude glass, an optical device popular in the 18th century used to frame the picturesque, the lenses invoke the invisible eye of the wary homeowner searching an otherwise vacant domestic landscape for imagined interlopers. Ortho, Greek for “correct,” further alludes to the unending quest to control any divergence from the norm, as well as the manipulation of our sense of perspective. With such a fusion of influences, these quiet compositions offer a magical view of the mundane. Here, reality has been de-familiarized, and the uncanny has supplanted the commonplace.

See more of Jacobs' work at Pierogi Gallery.

gregor gaida - attaboys

German artist Gregor Gaida has a pretty remarkable body of sculptural work. He's particularly interested in the figure, creating life-sized sculptures engaged in symbolic action. My favorite of his installations is Attaboys, which you see here, featuring a pair of aluminum boys engaged in the act of ripping up the floor. Gaida has said that he creates narratives with his work, which I think is especially true with this particular piece. As he explained in a recent gallery show at Parrotta Contemporary:

Many of my works combine positively charged components which in their sum and constellation, however, have a negative impact. The often aestheticized shape and the object-like character of my works in inconsistent with a narrative. The image I create wavers between attraction and repulsion. The narrative character of the figurative, however, plays a vital role. I tell stories without spelling them out. Merely the possibility of a story is suggested. The created moment is chosen in such a way that it is not, yet, decipherable. The connection and spaces between persons, motives, signs and symbols are open and undefined and so from an allegory of the events of present, past, and future, days.

The allure of the work lies in the beauty of the figurative sculptures juxtaposed with their inherent violence to create a narrative that is at once captivating and unsettling. See more of Gaida's work on his website.

(Via Colossal)

Andrew Zarou

flotilla (19), 2012. 10" x 10". graphite, paper + vellum collage on paper. Courtesy of Andrew Zarou.

meditational flaws, 2012. 19" x 19". graphite on spray-painted paper. Courtesy of Andrew Zarou.

flotilla (32), 2012. 18" x 18". graphite, paper + spray-painted paper on paper. Courtesy of Andrew Zarou.

meditational flaws (31), 2012. 19" x 19". graphite + spray paint on paper. Courtesy of Andrew Zarou.

flotilla (24), 2012. 10" x 10". graphite, paper + spray-painted paper collage on paper. Courtesy of Andrew Zarou.

Another favorite artist from this past weekend's Bushwick Open Studios was Andrew Zarou, who's work in currently on display at Robert Henry Contemporary (through July 1). Although his geometric works on paper couldn't be further from that of Seung Mo Park's intricate sculptures, they possess a beauty and polish that to which I found myself particularly drawn. According to his personal statement:

I see my studio practice as a balancing act between the physical manifestations of my core tendencies (repetition) and the spontaneous impulse for change (difference). Like the difference between climate and weather: climate being understood as the long-term trajectory of meteorological conditions, and weather as conditions of the immediate present, repetition and difference live inside and move around each other in my work.

Always striving for consistency, but rarely working serially, my typical approach has been to engage and resolve each piece individually. This generous and open-ended attitude has engendered a body of work that could be interpreted at face value as disparate and unrelated, but the central and foundational motivations that drive the work: the impulses to collect, organize, and build have remained in tact for years.

Zarou describes his work as relating to weather patterns, and I love how expressive each work feels, even within the confines of line and shape that he sets for himself.

Seung Mo Park

This past weekend was the annual Bushwick Open Studios, and I spent a good part of Saturday wandering through warehouse buildings packed with galleries and studios. With over 500 participants this year spread out over all of Bushwick, it was, of course, impossible to see it all, and I simply wasn't prepared for the size of the event. In fact, I skipped it last year because I hadn't been that excited about any of the work that I saw when I went 2 years ago. I'm so glad that I decided to give it another shot though, because I ended up being surprisingly impressed by how much great work was on display. And after nearly 4 hours of looking at art, my pick of the day was definitely Koren sculptor Seung Mo Park.

Han Hye yeon, 2011. 1600x1510x1880(mm), aluminum wire. fiberglass lifecasting. Courtesy of Seung Mo Park.

 YU HYEON JEONG, 2009. 1400 X 540 X 300(mm), aluminum wire. fiberglass.lifecasting.Courtesy of Seung Mo Park.

Bangasayusang, 2006. 420x490x930mm, aluminum wire. fiberglass.lifecasting. Courtesy of Seung Mo Park.

His aluminum wire sculptures are pretty stunning, but it was his latest series, Maya, created from layered and cut wire mesh, that really blew me away.

Courtesy of Seung Mo Park.

Via Blank Space Gallery.

Via Colossal.

I had seen some of these works previously on Colossal, but being that it's difficult to really get a sense the depth achieved through this technique combined with the large scale of these works and the fact that they're even more stunning in person, all made for a pretty incredible studio visit. You can see a video of Seung Mo Park's process below, and more example of the work on his website.



(Images © 2012 SeungMoPark.com, All rights reserved)

triforce tribute

Jolby

I have many fond memories of watching my dad play The Legend of Zelda. And while I didn't get a turn at the controller until I was a bit older, we kids had a great time sitting around and shouting out where we thought he should go, why he wasn't able to get past that two-headed dragon, and just where, exactly, the entrance to Death Mountain was located. It was a game filled with secret passages and hidden rooms, magic whistles and healing fairies, and of course, enemies to fight and a princess to save.

 Dan Cassaro/Young Jerks

 Skinny Ships

 Trevor Basset

Allan Peters

I have pretty great memories of the game, and judging by Triforce Tribute, curated by Jolby and Always With Honor, it's pretty safe to say that these guys understand where I'm coming from. They've assembled over 30 artists for a multi-medium show that celebrates all incarnations of these amazing games. If you're in Portland between now and April 21, check it out at Land Gallery, and purchase some of the artwork through Buy Olympia.

(Via The Fox Is Black)

Luke Jerram - Infectious Beauty

Glass Microbiology. Image courtesy of Luke Jerram.

HIV

Avian Flu

SARS

E Coli

Swine Flu

Untitled Future Mutation

Beautiful glass sculptures of viruses from Luke Jerram's glass microbiology series, on view now through June 26 in Infectious Beauty at the Heller Gallery. While viruses may seem like an odd choice of subject matter, Jerram, who is an inventor, researcher, amateur scientist and multi-disciplinary artist, designed these transparent glass sculptures as a way to contemplate the global impact of infectious disease through the visualization of a virus. Designed in consultation with virologist Dr. Andrew Davidson at the University of Bristol and made in collaboration with a team of scientific glassblowers, these sculptures are meant to reveal the unusual beauty inherent in these dangerous diseases.

(Except where otherwise stated, all images courtesy of the Heller Gallery)