Archive for October 2014
Sugar Monsters
James Ostrer‘s photographic series Wotsit all About depicts monstrous creatures made out of sugar, sweets and foodstuffs, assembled in a way that recalls primitive art. Referring to contemporary addictions and our culture’s dietary concerns, the artist mocks his own weaknesses and guilty pleasures.
“I wanted to redefine the human species in modern tribes based on what they eat.”
Ostrer studied at the Royal College of Art, before becoming a set designer at the English National Ballet. The artist lives and works in London. His work talks about the body politics in the ever evolving analysis of the western body, sexuality, and society, functioning in the same time as “self-help therapy”.
The photographs from Wotsit all About series have been exposed at Gazelli Art House, London.
DOODLE
Tina Chirita is a young Romanian talent, with a BA degree in Fashion design from University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca. Her graduation collection was inspired by doodle – an unfocused and unconscious type of drawing related to the attitude of bored pupils during the classes.
For Tina, the DOODLE became an interesting route while she was trying to convert the spontaneous lines into new patterns and fabrics. For this collection, she played monochrome, focusing on the fabrics which evolved into irregular shapes. The outfits are made out of knitted or quilted structures, yet the main attraction remains the material achieved through a felting technique (see the images below). These fabrics are handmade processed. She completed the doodle adventure with a pair of sunglasses with eyebrows (specially designed) which are really awesome.
Tina Chirita – Doodle collection
Andrea Hasler – Flesh Sculpture
Andrea Husler – Perishable Goods/ Swiss Mountains, Verbier, installed 2014
Andrea Hasler is a Swiss artist currently based in London, UK. Her wax and mixed media sculptures are characterized by a tension between attraction and repulsion, and highly influenced by artists like John Isaacs, Berlinde De Bruyckere and Louise Bourgeouis. Andrea Hasler helds an extensive portfolio with exhibitions in Los Angeles, London, Greece etc. She recently has won the Greenham Common Commission for 2014 and is currently artist in residency at Chisenhale, London.
The flesh cube that Andrea Hasler has recently installed in Swiss Mountains is a mix of luxury and decay, a relevant piece for her peculiar esthetic. In artist’s words:
“How to depict the emotional body is the red thread in my work. I am fascinated with the psychological aspect of the body and its emotional link to ‘Abject’, the borderline of inside/outside, something that is aesthetically desirable, yet revolting and where viewer’s attraction are replaced by repulsion, power, control and impotence.
In my work, I have always been particularly drawn to the body, how to depict the emotional body and working with skin as the physical element that divides the Self from the other, as well as the potential container for both and what happens if you open up those boundaries.”