The Sony World Photography Awards 2024 Celebrate Childhood Joy and Fiery Festivities
From the ocean floor to high above the cloud line, the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 offers a truly global approach to image-making.
Black Child of God celebration, while Mitul Kajaria documents the efforts of a women’s collective to improve the lives of impoverished families. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/sony-world-photo-awards/
Join Colossal for a Book Talk with Pablo Ortiz Monasterio On ‘Frida Kahlo: Her Photos’
A few weeks ago, we shared the illuminating book Frida Kahlo: Her Photos, which was recently reissued by Editorial FM. Join us on February 20 for a conversation with the book’s editor, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, who was asked to curate an exhibition of images from Kahlo’s vast archive of photography, never before seen by the public.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/frida-kahlo-book-talk/
Classical Figures Plunge into Contemporary Life in Alexey Kondakov’s Era-Blurring Paintings
Alexey Kondakov stretches the notion that art is timeless. In his uncanny Art History in Contemporary Life series (previously), Kondakov plucks figures from neoclassical and romantic paintings and places them into modern settings, blurring era, style, and medium.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/alexey-kondakov-collages/
Vivid Flora and Fauna Coexist in Immersive Paper Ecosystems by Clare Celeste Börsch
Lush layers of flora and fauna sprout in alcoves and crawl across gallery walls in the works of Clare Celeste Börsch (previously). The Berlin-based artist continues her ecological studies as she entangles paper cutouts into immersive ecosystems in which butterflies, birds, plants, and fungi coexist.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/clare-celeste-borsch-installations/
Spanning Four Decades, Edward Burtynsky’s Photos Document the Devastating Impacts of Industry
“I have spent over 40 years bearing witness to the ways in which modern civilization has dramatically transformed our planet,” says the renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky (previously). From the salt ponds of Spain to the eerie tunnels of Russia’s potash mines, Burtynsky has traveled the globe for the last four decades documenting the indelible impacts of industry.
Saatchi Gallery in London is Extraction/Abstraction, the largest survey of his work to date. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/edward-burtynsky-extraction-abstraction/
Monsieur Cailloux’s Imaginary Planet Spawns New Blobby Ceramic Specimens
A Paris studio doubles as the mysterious planet of MRCX. Populated with adorable specimens with stone-like bodies and two or three short legs, the imaginary universe is the site of rigorous scientific study for the artist known as Monsieur Cailloux, who’s pioneered a fantastical world of blobby ceramic creatures.
Instagram—include tree-like rings that reveal the creatures’ age, an average “locomotion speed” of 50 meters per minute, and that sometimes, when discovered deep in a cave, the specimens even glow in the dark. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/monsieur-cailloux-ceramic-sculptures/
Thomas Allen’s Playful Paper Cutouts Spring from Vintage Books and Color Swatches
Meticulous incisions and methodical folding allow scenes to arise from aged books and color swatches in Thomas Allen’s paper cutouts. Having loved pop-up books and shoebox dioramas since childhood, the artist cultivates a passion for “manufactured realities.”
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/thomas-allen-cutouts/
Meet Kagen Sound, the Award-Winning Designer Behind the World’s Most Intricate Puzzle Boxes
Kagen Sound crafted a cardboard puzzle box that, to open, required the user to move a piece hidden within the work. The Rubik’s Cube-esque project sparked a lifelong passion for the designer, who’s now known worldwide for his wildly intricate patterns and sequences.
a new documentary, the Wired team visits Sound’s garage studio, where he walks viewers through his process and workspace. Melding his background in math with 20 years of woodworking experience, the designer uses simple joinery techniques to formulate springs, geometric slides, and elegant motifs made with interlaced materials. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/kagen-sound-puzzle-boxes/
February 2024 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists
Every month, Colossal shares a selection of opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. If you’d like to list an opportunity here, please get in touch at hello@colossal.art. You can also join our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.
Black Women Photographers Grant FundFeatured
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/02/february-2024-opportunities/
Mark Powell’s Pen Drawings Accentuate the Memories Etched into Faces and Ephemera
In Mark Powell’s tender portraits, crinkled eyes and foreheads creased with age mirror highways and scrawled cursive notes. The artist (previously) pairs meticulously detailed drawings of older subjects with stamped envelopes, vintage book pages, and maps weathered from use, superimposing faces onto the worn, often collaged, substrates. Producing immense depth and shadow with the humble ballpoint pen, Powell likens the stories and experiences hidden in a face to those held within a letter or note from days gone by. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/mark-powell-pen-portraits/
Maria A. Guzmán Capron’s Entwined Figures Emerge from Boldly Patterned Patchworks
In many ways, Maria A. Guzmán Capron’s practice is about embracing circularity. Using textiles gathered from discount stores, resale shops, and friends, Capron stitches stylized figures whose bodies emerge from entangled clusters of limbs or coquettishly pose against the gallery wall, inviting each viewer with a flirty smile.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/maria-guzman-capron-fabric-figures/
Jean Mallard Hides Enchanting Mysteries Under the Dreamy Shroud of Dusk
Awash in blues and greens, Jean Mallard’s watercolor illustrations plunge us into enchanting worlds of knights, castles, and dark forests. The Paris-based artist gravitates toward mystery and magic, rendering tiny characters amid vast landscapes of rolling hills and pastel skies.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/jean-mallard-illustrations/
The 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Reveals the Most Magnificent Animal Behavior
From the cliffs of the Zin Desert to the shallow waters of South Africa’s Kosi Bay, the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest traverses the globe documenting the most striking moments of life on Earth. Laurent Ballesta, whose luminous underwater images we’ve featured previously, won the competition for the second time. Titled “The golden horseshoe,” the photo peers in on a tri-spine horseshoe crab crawling over the mud with a trio of small golden trevallies trailing behind with the hope that the crab will rustle up some food as it moves. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/2023-wildlife-photography-contest/
From Geography to Color Theory, Page Through a Rare Archive of Centuries-Old Japanese Textbooks
Color printing techniques have been used for centuries in Japan, from monochrome prints that were hand-colored to nishiki-e, or “brocade pictures,” in which a number of woodblocks forming separate parts of the image could be printed using different hues. Publishers relied on these methods until the early 1900s, when modern techniques like CYMK created multicolor impressions.
National Institute for Educational Policy Research, a trove of incredible textbooks spans the mid-1800s to the 1940s. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/japanese-rare-textbooks/
Sozai Center Designs a Durable Speckled Fabric Made Entirely of Recycled Apple Waste
About 60 percent of Japan’s apples grow in Aomori Prefecture, and as with any agricultural crop, the region also generates a significant amount of production waste, particularly as the fruits are squeezed and pressed for juice. The designers at Sozai Center engineered a new technology that recycles the leftover pomace into an elegant fabric called “Adam.”
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Framed by Frozen Lakes, Richard Johnson’s ‘Ice Huts’ Capture Wintertime Communities in Canada
Starting in late December and January when the temperatures stay consistently below freezing, bodies of water in the northern United States and Canada begin to freeze. As the ice reaches thicknesses over four inches, it becomes safe to walk on, and at more than five inches, it is usually safe for snowmobiles. Then, in droves, residents take to the lakes. Ontario’s 279-square-mile Lake Simcoe, for example, draws more people for its ice fishing than any other lake in North America, attracting upwards of 4,000 huts each year. More
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/richard-johnson-ice-huts/
A Mammoth Book Catalogs a Vibrant Spectrum of Color Charts Spanning 600 Years
From chemists’ plant-derived dyes to consumer paint swatches displayed at the hardware store, the history of color charts reflects a varied relationship between pigments, science, culture, and commerce. Anne Varichon in her forthcoming book explores the entwined evolution of this categorization through nearly 200 vibrant samples from the 15th century to modern day.
Color Charts: A History is a hefty survey of hundreds of grids and illustrations cataloging a remarkable spectrum of hues, materials, and uses. More
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In the World’s Largest Rainforest, a Prehistoric Metropolis Emerges After More Than 2,500 Years
If someone were to ask you what you know about the history of the Amazon, what would you say? Archaeologist Stéphen Rostain, who knows a thing or two about the region, insists in a recent profile that the answer is “nothing, because the history that we think we know is wrong.” In a study recently published in Science, Rostain chronicles a 30-year research project and the astonishing discovery of a 2,500-year-old metropolis in the Ecuadorian rainforest, a “lost valley of cities.”
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/ecuador-amazon-cities/
Kelly O’Dell Brings Extinct Creatures Back to Life through Vibrant Colored Glass
Before going extinct more than 65 million years ago, ammonites were cephalopods that roamed marine landscapes donning coiled shell exteriors. Now, they serve as index fossils that provide a valuable look into a geologic period far before our existence. Captivated by themes of origin, extinction, preservation, and conservation, Lopez Island-based artist Kelly O’Dell explores the ammonite’s elegant form through hot glass sculpture.
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https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/kelly-odell-ammonites/
Enormous Animals with Divine Powers Populate Kanako Abe’s Dreamy Papercuts
“My intention is to invite the viewers to feel like they’re in a little story theater when they look at my art,” says Kanako Abe about her latest series. The Seattle-based artist is known for her elegant Kirie works, which feature intricate compositions of flora and fauna carved from single sheets of paper. Employing the same precision and whimsical aesthetic, Abe’s most recent collection shifts from two dimensions to three to embrace the immersive nature of storytelling. More
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