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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Swiss street artists Pablo Togni and Christian Rebecchi aka NEVERCREW (featured on our blog) is well known for their giant, playful murals exploring the relationship between man and nature. Most depict realistic-looking animals, lots of whales, polar bears, and giant squids, which become figments of fantasy when painted on real world structures. The duo has been painting nonstop this year, and recently took a moment to send us photos from their busy summer traveling around the world.
Italian born, Ontario based artist Toni Hamel describes her work as "an illustrated commentary on human frailties". Working with oil and latex on canvas as her preferred medium, Hamel's subdued illustrations draw from her personal experience and observations of life in Canada. In her most recent series, "Land of Id", she makes subtle commentary about how we treat and misuse our environment and the effects of our actions. The series portrays both good and bad interactions such as deforestation, narwhal hunting, and Arbour Day, a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees.
Montreal based artist Nathalie Lagacé plainly draws ties between humans and nature in her latest graphite series of hybrid baby-animals. Titled "Legacy", her drawings portray screaming newborn babies who express the same emotional rollercoaster as our relationship to the environment. In a way, they are almost comical in their bizarre pairings of animals like babies with chicken legs and "duck lips", others posed like a Thanksgiving turkey ready for roasting.
Ever wonder what happened to those plastic bags you recycled? Some of them may have ended up in Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno's latest installation. "Becoming Aerosolar" is Saraceno's debut exhibition in Austria, currently on view at the 21er Haus art museum in Vienna through August 30th. The exhibit highlights a series of sculptures and objects inspired by how we experience our environment - but it is Saraceno's "flying museum" on display that takes this exploration to new heights.
Bone, linseed oil, citrus extract from orange peels, earth paints and crayons- these are the materials of choice for Canadian urban artist Stefan Thompson. Thompson is studied in environmental science and looks to his surroundings for his medium and inspiration. Somewhere along the way to practicing art, he realized paint was toxic and set out to replace it with eco-friendly alternatives. Whether you find yourself walking through the city or woods near his studio, you might stumble upon a birch tree scorched into a mass of his organic characters. Among the work he’s exhibited is nontoxic acrylic paintings in surprising colors, stick sculptures like his Grassdeer, and reliefs of animals in driftwood, to name a few. Read more after the jump.