Figurative Sculptures Formed From Recycled Cardboard by James Lake

Artist James Lake has used cardboard as his medium of choice for the last 20 years. The-UK based sculptor pieces together multiple layers of the recyclable material with hot glue to create free-standing  figural sculptures that are often a reflection of his own image. Lake was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 17, and began working the material after his right leg was amputated. During rehabilitation he searched for a material that could be easily accessible from his bedroom.

“I wanted a medium that can be used to sculpt beyond traditional material and without the need of an arts studio,” says Lake. “The end result was the fine crafting of an inexpensive common place and recyclable material. I manipulate cardboard into taking a form which is vastly beyond its original function as a container to transport food and commercial goods.”

Lake continues to discover the possibilities of the versatile material, and has become further interested in the value his time, effort, and care placed on the disposable packaging. Currently the artist runs art workshops in his community, providing a resource to propel sculptural artist practices in local schools and colleges. You can learn more about the cardboard sculptor and his practice in the short video below.

The Wines of Gala: Salvador Dalí’s Surrealist Wine Guide Republished for the First Time in 40 Years

Last published in 1978, The Wines of Gala is Salvador Dalí’s eccentric guide to wine grapes and their origin. Filled with over 140 appropriated artworks and surreal collages collected and created by Dalí, the book is an equally surreal follow-up to TASCHEN’s reprinting of the artist’s cookbook Les Diners de Gala. In addition to Jean-François Millet’s The Angelus, which was a constant point of reference in Dali’s works, surreal visuals include a Bacchus-like kitten, and a sort of tableau vivant featuring Dali himself.

In keeping with Dalí’s efforts to create artwork based on his emotions, memories, and dreams, the artist chose to organize the wines in the book by how they influenced his mood. The groupings are appropriately imaginative classifications including such section titles as “Wines of Frivolity,” “Wines of the Impossible,” and “Wines of Light.” A section in the book also outlines Dalí’s method of ordering wine by emotional experience, quoting the artist’s famous credo: “A real connoisseur does not drink wine but tastes of its secrets.”

The 296-page wine bible published by TASCHEN is now available for pre-order. (via It’s Nice That)

 

Ethereal Acrylic Paintings by Duy Huynh Explore Cultural Displacement and Elements of Folklore

North Carolina-based painter Duy Huynh (previously) infuses his acrylic paintings with whimsical elements of visual storytelling, where a plume of instruments rises from a rushing locomotive and the moon hovers as a balloon tethered to the wrist of a woman. Huynh arrived in the U.S. from Vietnam in the 1980s and often revisits this period of cultural acclimatization in his artwork. Via his artist statement:

Themes of geographical and cultural displacement are prevalent in Duy’s artwork. Ethereal characters maintain a serene, precarious balance, often in a surreal or dreamlike setting. With his figures, Duy explores motion along with emotion in order to portray not just the beauty of the human form, but also the triumph of the human spirit.

Huynh is the co-owner of Lark & Key Gallery and many of his original works and prints are currently available.

LA Architects and Designers Build Imaginative Outdoor Cat Dwellings for Charity

Architects for Animals celebrated its 10th edition last month, inviting local architects and designers to build functional cat dwellings in response to the city’s homeless cat population. The homes were auctioned off to benefit LA-based non-profit FixNation, a charity organization that provides free spay/neuter services to stray, abandoned, and feral cats. Designs ranged from a modern kitty disco to a roller-coaster like structure, each placing a creative twist on feline shelters with a variety of different cat-safe materials.

More designs from previous Architects for Animals can be found on their website. (via Design Milk)

Museum Patrons Accidentally Matching Artworks Photographed by Stefan Draschan

Photographer Stefan Draschan visits museums around Europe to see not just the artwork but the people observing the artwork. In his series People Matching Artworks he patiently waits for museum-goers who unintentionally coordinate with the art they’re observing, and snaps a candid photo of the coincidence. You can follow the tumblr for this project, and find links to Draschan’s other observational collections on his website. (via Kottke)

Artist Yang Yongliang Imagines the Bleak Effects of Industrialization in Dense Photographic Collages

Yang Yongliang, Endless Streams, 2017. Single Channel 4K video, 7’00”, © Yang Yongliang / Courtesy Galerie Paris-Beijing

In these stark photographic collages that seem to possess the infinite density of a fractal, artist Yang Yongliang (previously) questions unchecked industrialization, the impact of climate change, and pressing social issues in his native China. Each image seems to suggest a post-apocalyptic future where the forces of urbanization collide with the natural world, creating a drab black and white dystopia. “The artist keeps developing a critic approach to reality while searching for a spiritual source in his country’s relentless march between technological progress and annihilation,” states Galerie Paris-Beijing.

As part of this new series titled Time Immemorial, Yongliang began with a series of digital collages that were printed in negative on fine art paper. Each piece was then photographed with a traditional film camera and prints were developed by hand. Lastly, the artworks are mounted on back-lit wooden cases to fulfill the artist’s intent to preserve digital imagery on photographic film.

Time Immemorial opens at Galerie Paris-Beijing on November 4, 2017.

Sinking, 2016. Giclee print on Fine Art paper, 100 x 80 cm

Flooding, 2016. Giclee print on Fine Art paper, 80 x 100 cm

The Cliff, 2016. Giclee print on Fine Art paper, 80 x 80 cm

The Path, 2016. Giclee print on Fine Art paper, 80 x 80 cm

The Streams, 2016. Giclee print on Fine Art paper, 100 x 80 cm

The Flock, 2016. Giclee print on Fine Art paper, 80 x 100 cm