Tag: environmental art

Posted on , by Claire Haik

Art Spiel Picks: Philly Exhibitions in February 2025

HIGHLIGHTS
Carl Cheng, Alternative TV #3, 1974-2016. Plastic chassis, acrylic water tank, air pump, LED lighting and controller, electrical cord, aquarium hardware, conglomerated rocks, and plastic plants. Courtesy of the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles

I often think about the first scientist who looked into a microscope and saw the dividing of cells, the jiggle of bacteria, and the movement of microorganisms. They must have marveled at the invisible worlds that were revealed. Similar to uncovering fossils of long-extinct species, we are humbled when we discover that we are only a tiny part of a much larger story. These monumental confrontations move us emotionally as much as they do intellectually, evoking within us a sense of awe and wonder. Close Encounters at Box Spring Gallery and Carl Cheng: Nature Never Loses at the Institute of Contemporary Art both ask us to consider our position within the cosmos, drawing attention to the fragility of our existence and the complicated ecosystems in which we live. Turning inward, allow yourself to be nourished by Ann Wehrwein’s Tender Ground at Pentimenti, where she renders quiet moments of everyday life with layers of color and care.

Continue reading “Art Spiel Picks: Philly Exhibitions in February 2025”
Posted on , by john ros

Emergent Strategies: In Defense of Weeds at Stand4 Gallery

hot air
BLF-2025-0201-Stand4-Fuqua-091-sm.jpg
Kariann Fuqua, Emergent Strategies: In Defense of Weeds, 2025. installation shot: front gallery. Image credit, Brad Farwell

In her latest exhibition, Emergent Strategies: In Defense of Weeds, Kariann Fuqua invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with the natural world—specifically the wild plants we so often dismiss as nuisances. Through a collection of drawings, photographs and found objects gathered from her acre of land in Mississippi, Fuqua examines the ecological and cultural narratives tied to “weeds,” challenging the capitalist obsession with control that underpins the American lawn.

Continue reading “Emergent Strategies: In Defense of Weeds at Stand4 Gallery”
Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Eileen Ferara at Guttenberg Arts

In dialogue

the Immense Activity of Being Alive II, 20 x 26 in, Lithograph with watercolor and colored pencil

During her time at Guttenberg Arts Residency (STAR), Eileen Ferara spent much time in the Gutten Garden, an urban community garden maintained by the organization. The plants—fruits we eat and companion plants we call weeds—became the focus of her drawings. She collected soil, seeds, and leaves, bringing bits of the garden into the studio to keep that connection alive. The Guttenberg Residency offers three months of access to professional workspaces for printmaking and ceramics. Eileen used goldenrod and indigo plants to dye paper for her prints. In the print shop, she worked through the process of stone lithography, gaining a hands-on understanding of the medium.

Subscribe to the Art Spiel Weekly Newsletter. It Matters to us!
SUBSCRIBE HERE

Continue reading “Eileen Ferara at Guttenberg Arts”
Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Oskar Landi: Trekking unfamiliar environments

Oskar Landi, Plenilunium, Mt. Rosa 01
Hot Air

Oskar Landi was born and raised in Italy. In 1998, he moved to New York to pursue art, arriving with two tools: a saxophone and a camera. Over time, the camera became the better instrument for making a living. With several years of experience as a photo assistant in Europe, he adapted to New York’s photography industry, building a basic commercial and editorial client base that allowed him to sustain himself while continuing to explore the medium’s possibilities.

Continue reading “Oskar Landi: Trekking unfamiliar environments”
Posted on , by Anna Shukeylo

Stephanie Beck: Bough in Wave Hill

hot air

If you haven’t visited the little paradise up in the Bronx called Wave Hill recently, now is the time to go there, not only to experience the beautiful gardens but to see exhibitions that are not to be missed, one of them being Stephanie Beck’s Bough. Beck, who has always been a risk-taking sculptor, either building cities out of paper or manipulating wood into gravity-defying constructions, speaks with me about her latest body of work constructed from materials found at Wave Hill and bringing to light crucial environmental issues beautifully and elegantly. This is the last week to see the show, which runs through December 1st, 2024.

Continue reading “Stephanie Beck: Bough in Wave Hill”
Posted on , by MICHELE JASLOW

Art Spiel Picks : Art and Technology NYC Exhibitions November 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

CHANNEL by Scope Collective at Biobat Art Space. Photo courtesy of gallery.

The three exhibitions Digital Being: Radio Row, Water Stories, and GUI/GOOEY explore memory, technology, and sustainability across time. In Digital Being: Radio Row, Taezoo Park breathes new life into obsolete machines, reimagining New York’s Radio Row as a digital hub of the past and future. Water Stories at BioBAT Art Space celebrates water’s ecological and cultural roles through multisensory art, urging conservation for future generations. GUI/GOOEY at Plexus Projects blurs boundaries between digital and organic realms, examining how interfaces reshape our perception of the body and nature through digital media.

Continue reading “Art Spiel Picks : Art and Technology NYC Exhibitions November 2024”
Posted on , by Bat-Ami Rivlin

Erica Stoller: Find and Form

in dialogue

Outcropping, Erica Stoller’s recent solo show at A.I.R. Gallery, which ran through November 10th, utilized cardboard cuttings, formerly boxes, and packaging, as its exclusive material. When walking through the gallery, one noticed the show has three sections– a corner piece that covers two walls, floor to ceiling, a grid of individual cardboard compositions hung on the wall and a third “sandwiches” station that allowed viewers to pick up layered cardboard batches. Proceeds from the sale of the “sandwiches” go to Feeding America. An interesting survey of installation art—a site-specific installation, painting-like works on a wall, and an interactive piece. Stoller often works with space in curious ways. In Item # 25-033, her 2022 solo show at A.I.R. Gallery, she created a single wall-to-wall installation using Manilla rope and elastic bands. The rope cut through the gallery space, creating framed planes between ceiling pipes, wall hooks, and the floor.

Continue reading “Erica Stoller: Find and Form”
Posted on , by Etty Yaniv

Donna Conklin King: Fifty-Eight Feet Down the Ocean

Hot Air
“Bubbly Barnacles” after launch photo, courtesy of UMAFL

Sculptor Donna Conklin King draws on the philosophy of Kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art that highlights an object’s imperfections by emphasizing its cracks with gold leaf. She works primarily with concrete, experimenting by casting forms from unconventional materials such as tin ceiling tiles, food containers, and fabric. Her sculptures often incorporate delicate elements like doilies and 24-karat gold leaf, exploring the relationship between nature, architecture, and the inevitable decay of civilization. In her recent focus on public sculptures, Conklin King’s pieces are “openly cracked and repaired,” evolving and enduring over time. They reflect themes of resilience, history, and archaeology.

Continue reading “Donna Conklin King: Fifty-Eight Feet Down the Ocean”
Posted on , by Anna Shukeylo

Carrie Moyer: Timber! At Alexander Gray Associates

photo story
Installation view at Alexander Gray Associates. Photo courtesy of the gallery.

Carrie Moyer’s solo show Timber! is her debut with the renowned Alexander Gray Associates gallery in New York City. Her signature vibrant abstractions shine in the airy rooms of the Tribeca gallery space. Centering around “social and environmental instability,” this new body of work offers greater complexity and a more somber tone than Moyer’s previous work.

Continue reading “Carrie Moyer: Timber! At Alexander Gray Associates”