Tag: handmade

Vickie Vainionpää at The Hole NYC

Citing the “mysterious and utterly sensual paintability of CGI,” Montreal-based artist Vickie Vainionpää combines digital and traditional art-making with her hand-painted renderings of alluring, digitally-generated forms.  A new body of oil on canvas paintings and an immersive video at The Hole in Tribeca from her continuing ‘Soft Body Dynamics’ series feature thick, undulating tubes of color winding through space.  Like reflective mylar party balloons, the upper squiggle feels celebratory while the lower, intestine-like duct is slightly visceral though the palette brings cotton candy to mind.  (On view through June 18th).

Vickie Vainionpää, Soft Body Dynamics 73, oil on canvas, 58 x 48 inches, 2022.

Avery Singer at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

Beneath an overlay of doodles depicting the Wojak meme in various iterations including Martin Luther, an executioner and a victim of the guillotine, the hulking face of Maximilien Robespierre exudes menace in Avery Singer’s painting at Hauser & Wirth Gallery.  Reintroduced to the bloodthirsty leader of the French revolution’s ‘Reign of Terror’ via the game Assassin’s Creed, Singer blends adopts this oversized historical personage to consider modern-day digital expressions of violence. Titled ‘Edgelord,’ the piece draws parallels between the destruction wrought on-line today and by extreme characters of the past.  (On view through Oct 30th).

Avery Singer, Edgelord, acrylic on canvas stretched over wood panel, 100 ¼ x 120 ¼ x 2 1/8 inches, 2021.

Will Cotton in ‘Paper/Print’ at the International Print Center

Will Cotton’s paintings of models and confectionery merge erotic desire and the temptation of sweets; here, sugar wins out as a tower of cake takes center stage at the International Print Center in Chelsea.  If this looks like a sculpture that won’t age well, don’t be fooled; this indulgent stack of goodies is made of handmade paper – a standout in the Print Center’s show of American hand paper-making since the 60s.

Will Cotton, The Pleasure Principle 2, cast pigmented handmade paper, published by Pace Editions, Inc, papermakers: Ruth Lingen, Akemi Martin and Emily Chaplain, 2014.

Jeff Elrod at Luhring Augustine Gallery

New York artist Jeff Elrod devises his images on a computer, then renders them by hand on canvas, bridging the gap between artist and machine in the digital age. (At Chelsea’s numberswiki.com

Augustine Gallery” target=”_blank”>Luhring Augustine Gallery through April 12th.)

Jeff Elrod, Untitled, UV ink on Fisher canvas, 118 ¼ x 84 inches, 2014.

Li Hongbo at Klein Sun Gallery (part II)

Chelsea newcomer Klein Sun Gallery is giving visitors who loved the debut of Chinese sculptor Li Hongbo’s paper sculptures a treat. Extended to March 22nd, the exhibition has been rehung with new, larger sculptures including these two female figures constructed of paper carefully glued together sheet by sheet then carved with hand tools by the artist.

Li Hongbo, installation view at Klein Sun Gallery, Chelsea, March 2014.