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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
The human body was one of the earliest subjects of sculpture, predating galleries or artistic statements or even recorded history. Even today, the functions range from ritualistic to iconographic, decorative to narrative-driven. Seeing the form through the lens of Emil Alzamora, the human form’s possibilities are stretched further. At times, his works feel like allusions to the physical body, marked by familiar positioning and distorted states. And in eroding away the things that may seem personal about a figure, like clothing, facial features, or age, universal stories unfold.
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.
New York based artist Mike Lee draws tiny, typical urban places that seem to float in negative space. We previously covered his graphite drawings here, mostly portraying an aerial view of a dollhouse-like world. Lee's latest series, currently on view at Giant Robot's GR gallery in Los Angeles, pushes the peculiarity of his artworks a little bit further. They still contain simplified spaces populated by chubby Lego-like urbanites, but have been spliced up to a more abstract effect.
Going through Randy Hage’s “New York Storefronts” series of photographs had me admiring them as photographs for all the reasons you admire a great photograph; color, composition, a story... until I read the captions: "1/12th scale sculpture of a bodega in Brooklyn..." These storefront miniatures could be thought of as time capsules of a potentially endangered species, capturing the delicate beauty of aging architecture. Hage has been creating sets, models, and props for the TV/Film and small scale hobby industries for over 25 years and has an upcoming solo show at Flower Pepper gallery October 10th, 2015.