Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Randy Hage Miniaturizes Fading Storefronts in “Facade”

Randy Hage caught our attention earlier this year for his stunning mixed-media miniatures of New York, which he then photographs. You may find yourself giving his work a second and third take, even after discovering its true size, with most pieces measuring at 1/12th scale. Working primarily in wood, plastic, resin and metal, Hage draws upon the disciplines of his formative years as a prop maker in the TV/Film industry. What began as an experiment in miniaturizing local structures, particularly cast iron buildings, has turned into what he calls a "documentary project." He will exhibit his latest series in his exhibition "Facade", opening at Flower Pepper Gallery in Los Angeles on October 10th.

Randy Hage caught our attention earlier this year for his stunning mixed-media miniatures of New York, which he then photographs. You may find yourself giving his work a second and third take, even after discovering its true size, with most pieces measuring at 1/12th scale. Working primarily in wood, plastic, resin and metal, Hage draws upon the disciplines of his formative years as a prop maker in the TV/Film industry. What began as an experiment in miniaturizing local structures, particularly cast iron buildings, has turned into what he calls a “documentary project.” He will exhibit his latest series in his exhibition “Facade”, opening at Flower Pepper Gallery in Los Angeles on October 10th. Each piece is hyper-realistically modeled after an actual facade, down to their hand-painted signs and graffiti tags, and in doing so, Hage documents each one before it gets torn down. He averages that about 60% of the buildings that he documents go out of business. “Knowing the intimate details of a structure, understanding the decay and what it went through, the rehabs, the people who owned the building and the business, that intimacy gives me a closeness with New York,” Hage says. “It’s kind of like when someone tells you a secret.”

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Philadelphia based artist Drew Leshko (featured here on our blog) creates multi-layered paper and wood sculptures that beckon viewers to connect with a bit of nostalgia, while keeping one foot planted in the now. Leshko got his start as a studio assistant and fabricator for another sculptor just after finishing his schooling at West Chester University in his native Pennsylvania. Being strongly influenced by documentary photographers such as Walker Evans and Hilla Becher, Leshko creates sculptural commentaries that echo those filmmakers’ abilities to capture moments in time.
Currently on view in Mexico City's Museo Tamayo, influential Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's first Latin American retrospective, "Obsesión Infinita" (or "Infinite Obsession"), features an extensive array of interdisciplinary works created from 1950 to 2014. Kusama's career has taken many turns over the years (we covered her work at length in HF Vol. 25), but the artist has always maintained her penchant for the experimental and irreverent.
Sculptor/jewelry artist Rebecca Rose crafts scenes in ring form, pulling from cultural iconography and allegorical narratives. Her so-called “Sculpturings” are described as “a hybrid of small sculpture and wearable art cast in precious metals using the lost wax casting process.” Her work has been shown in both galleries and jewelry showcases alike.
Israeli artist Zemer Peled uses slivers of porcelain to emulate shapes and forms of the natural world, from feathers to leaves and petals. The result is something otherworldly, blending hues and patterns for something both familiar and strange. The delicate and organic constructions defy their actual sharp, hardened nature. These works come in differing sizes, from the size of common houseplants to towering over viewers, all made from thousands of pieces of porcelain.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List