Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Nightshop’s Recreations of Neighbors in Children’s Clay

Dutch duo Ward van Gemert and Adriaan van der Ploeg, collectively known as Nightshop, began a partnership in 2010. And recently, the pair decided to recreate the heads of people on their street using resin-based children’s clay. The result of this effort is a collection of 30 life-sized, unsettling characters in a series called “The Strangers.” Nightshop is based in Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands.

Dutch duo Ward van Gemert and Adriaan van der Ploeg, collectively known as Nightshop, began a partnership in 2010. And recently, the pair decided to recreate the heads of people on their street using resin-based children’s clay. The result of this effort is a collection of 30 life-sized, unsettling characters in a series called “The Strangers.” Nightshop is based in Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands.



Though it may be rude to stare at their real-life counterparts, even if the duo wants to, “The Strangers” offer their own engrossing opportunity. “The result is a family of outcasts and strangers without any kind of filter,” the pair says. “Free to stare at until the cows come home.”



The vibrant original colors translate to fascinating hues on the faces of the characters, resulting in creations that resemble characters in pulp comics. Each head is about a foot tall, and is placed on a coated base. In a statement from the duo, they say they are interested in “mixing elements of high culture and popular culture into their designs. Also, they’re keen on investigating the boundaries between good taste and bad taste.”

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
If the Addams' family's Thing multiplied and mutated, it would resemble something like Alessandro Boezio's sculptures. The artist works in clay and fiber glass to create creepy-crawly anatomical forms that remix the human body. Boezio is particularly fascinated with hands and feet, often mingling digits and limbs in unholy ways. Though there's nothing particularly explicit about his work, seeing severed hands standing up by themselves without a body attached is enough to make our skin crawl.
In his latest “Trash Talking” exhibition, staged in a converted gas station now art space, Leavitt takes on American brans, consumer culture and crafts them out of packaging from other branded products. We interviewed the artist for a hifructose.com exclusive. Click above to read it.
The lifesized crocheted and knitted figures made by Finland artist Liisa Hietanen are based off of people in her hometown. The artist gets to know them during the process of creating their likeness. When the artist is done with one of her "Villager" sculptures, she takes it to the public and displays them in Hämeenkyrö.
Sunkoo Yuh’s clusters of ceramic figures traverse different cultures and topics. His vibrant arrangements of characters range from desk-sized pieces to towering creations. Packed in the pieces are ancient icons, occasional religious figures, and more, sometimes reacting to each other within one set.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List