How To Recycle

The Barbican Conservatory, London, United Kingdom. Architect: Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. Photo © Taran Wilkhu. All images courtesy of Olivia Broome and Hoxton Mini Press

In the mid-20th century, during reconstruction following World War II, an architectural style emerged in the U.K. and Europe that favored bare, industrial building materials, a monochrome palette, and angular geometry. Both iconic and divisive, the hulking, concrete facades can be seen in the likes of London’s Barbican Centre or the National Theatre. In the U.S., think of Boston City Hall or Met Breuer. These stalwart structures represented modernity, resilience, and strength, serving as civic hubs and governmental centers—the opposite of “soft around the edges.”

That’s where Olivia Broome’s project Brutalist Plants comes in, a repository of photographs featuring gardens and greenery around these iconic buildings, which she has collected on her Instagram since 2018. An eponymous forthcoming book, published by Hoxton Mini Press, showcases some of the most impressive examples that she has collected over time, focusing on incredible pairings and contrasts between architecture and foliage.

“I find it fascinating how much any space can be improved by some plants or greenery,” Broome tells Colossal. “There’s something so pleasing about grey and green, as anyone with some houseplants in their flat can agree with! For me, brutalism gives off such a strong presence when you’re near it, and nature softens that right down.”

Brutalist Plants emerged from a community-led collaboration, as Broome collects and showcases other photographers’ images. She enlisted her father, who is also a fan of photography, to help whittle down the more than 300 images in the project’s Instagram feed to create a selection for the book—ten of which made the final cut. “Something I’m proud of is that images from 41 different countries feature in the book,” she says. “I really wanted to make it as international as possible, so I hope there’s something for everyone.”

Brutalist Plants is out in the U.K. this month, and you can preorder your copy on Hoxton Mini Press’s website. The book’s U.S. release is scheduled for September.

Reinforced hillside, Aogashima, Tokyo, Japan. Photo © Yasushi Okano

Artwork and photo by Karsten Födinger in La Vallée, Basse-Normandie, France

Left: Monument to the Revolution, Kozara National Park, Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Architect: Dušan Džamonja. Photo © Alexey Bokov. Right: Casa de Vidro, São Paulo, Brazil. Architect: Lina Bo Bardi. Photo © Celeste Asfour

Jurong Bird Park, Jurong, Singapore. Architect: John Yealland and J. Toovey. Photo © James Wong

Evangelische Friedenskirche (Peace Church), Monheim-Baumberg, Germany. Architect: Walter Maria Förderer. Photo © Bildarchiv Monheim GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

Left: Bucharest, Romania. Photo © Bogdan Anghel. Right: Casa Alférez, Cañada De Alferes, Mexico. Architect: Ludwig Godefroy. Photo © Rory Gardiner

Les Étoiles d’Ivry, Paris, France. Architect: Jean Renaudie. Photo © pp1 / Shutterstock

The abandoned Haludovo Palace Hotel, Krk Island, Croatia. Architect: Boris Magaš. Photo © Maciek Leszczelowski

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Photos from 41 Countries Juxtapose Blocky Architecture and Verdant Gardens in ‘Brutalist Plants’ appeared first on Colossal.

“Coltivazione del Sé” (2021), Cassino, Italy. All images © ONIRO, shared with permission

Greenery abounds in the large-scale murals of Italian artist ONIRO, who often focuses on themes of interconnectedness and balance, especially between humans and the natural world. In “Coltivazione del Sé,” or “self-cultivation,” a human form emerges from the leaves and shadows of a burgeoning plant, while an opening of sky between branches reveals a facial silhouette in an untitled mural on an olive oil processing workshop.

In 2022, ONIRO completed an ambitious series that links three neighboring communities along the Via Aurelia, an ancient Roman artery in Italy constructed around 241 B.C.E. that remains a busy commercial thoroughfare today. “Each mural is a necessary part for the others, like organs that form an organism, and which as a whole has a greater value than the sum of the individual parts,” the artist says.

The three pieces in Organismo, or “body,” are composed in a loose, painterly style to depict Gaia—the ancient Greek goddess who personified the earth—an island shaped like the human heart, and a peninsula shaped like lungs with flowing, bronchial inlets. Explore more on Behance and Instagram.

Untitled, La Marina oil mill, San Donato Val Comino, Italy (2021)

“Organismo – Cuore” (2022), Comune di Castagneto Carducci, Italy

“Coltivazione del Sé”

Detail of “Coltivazione del Sé”

“Organismo – Polmoni” (2022), Comune di San Vincenzo, Italy

Aerial view of “Organismo – Polmoni.” Photo by Francesco Luongo

“Organismo – Gaia” (2022), Comune di Venturina Terme, Italy

“Casa del Fiume”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Verdant Landscapes and Burgeoning Plants Crawl Across Walls in ONIRO’s Vibrant Anatomical Murals appeared first on Colossal.

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. All photos by Charlie Rubin, courtesy of Kasmin, shared with permission

Now obsolete, the term zoophytes once referred to organisms that exhibited both animal and plant characteristics. It’s also an apt title for a poetic exhibition of sculptures blending beastly and botanical forms by the late Claude (1925-2019) and François-Xavier Lalanne (1927-2008).

On view at Kasmin in New York, Zoophites brings together dozens of surrealist works from the French artists, known together as Les Lalanne, that bridge the divide between kingdoms. Included are iconic pieces like François-Xavier’s “Grand Chat polymorph,” a ten-foot cat with a tail fin and wings that open up to reveal a fully functional bar cart, and a similarly multi-purpose bull whose bronze belly flips open like a small desk. Having worked as a guard in the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries of the Louvre, the artist often referenced ancient mythology and hybridity in his figures.

While François-Xavier gravitated toward the animal, Claude was drawn to the plant world. Oversized ginkgo leaves line “Les Berces adossées,” an elegant bench with four fan-shaped seats. The pair lived together but tended to work separately, and their rare collaborations maintain both of their natural affinities. “Gorille consolé,” for example, features a seated primate by François-Xavier that grasps branches by Claude.

As its name suggests, that glass-top piece is made to hold objects, and some curators and critics struggled to classify the duo’s works because of such functionality. “It was difficult to be accepted in the art world,” Claude said. “We used to have a lot of trouble because we made useful things and made them ourselves. This is automatically considered as so called ‘decorative arts,’ a lesser, secondary art.”

Zoophites borrows its title from a 1964 show in Paris that was the first the pair presented together and is on view through May 9. For more about Les Lalanne, visit Kasmin.

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. Photo by Charlie Rubin

Claude Lalanne, “Les Berces adossées” (2015), bronze, 42 1/8 x 96 1/8 x 29 7/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

François-Xavier Lalanne, detail of “Bouquetin (grand)” (1999/2016), bronze and black patina, 37 x 53 1/8 x 11 7/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

François-Xavier Lalanne, “Gorille consolé” (2002/2016), bronze and glass 33 7/8 x 72 3/5 x 19 5/7 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

‘Les Lalanne: Zoophites,’ Kasmin, New York. Photo by Charlie Rubin

François-Xavier Lalanne, “Oiseau de Peter branché (grand) (Modèle de montage)” (2004), bronze, 40 1/8 x 54 3/4 x 44 1/8 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne, “Centaure (moyen)” (1995/2008), gilt bronze, 48 3/8 x 33 7/8 x 13 inches. Image © Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris, France

Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne in 1985. Phot by Jean-Philippe Lalanne, courtesy of Caroline Hamisky Lalanne and Kasmin

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All images © Fidencio Fifield-Perez, shared with permission

Fidencio Fifield-Perez’s Dacaments series began as a response to the bureaucracy of the U.S. immigration system. The Oaxaca-born artist immigrated with his family as a child, making him eligible for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). To qualify and retain his status, he needed to collect official documents, the envelopes from which became the substrate for his paintings.

When the Trump administration terminated the policy in 2017, people like Fifield-Perez were thrown into limbo before the Supreme Court reinstated it in 2020. His hyperrealistic renderings of potted plants reflect this precarious position as symbols of domesticity and thriving life rest atop discarded mailers that have fulfilled their purposes. “Painted envelopes are configured into intimate portraits of the only home I have made for myself, moved across the country, and mourned for with the imminent threat of DACA’s repeal,” the artist says, adding:

The plant paintings are physical and metaphorical maps of personal and official correspondence. The rubber plant abandoned outside The University of Iowa’s art studios painted on the mailer envelope of my graduate degree; the split-leaf monstera gifted to my husband and me for our wedding ceremony; the jade plant given to me by the only other dacamented professor I’ve met.

Ongoing since 2016, Dacaments will conclude this year when Fifield-Perez’s DACA status ends.

As part of a McKnight Fellowship, the artist is working toward a show at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, where he lives. Find more of his paintings and collages on his website and Instagram.

Photo by Argenis Apolinario, courtesy pf PS122 Gallery, N.Y.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Used Envelopes Hold Thriving Potted Plants in Fidencio Fifield-Perez’s ‘Dacaments’ appeared first on Colossal.

Courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library

In the early 19th century, German naturalist Lorenz Oken quickly established himself as a leader in the Naturphilosophie movement, a current of Idealism, which attempted to comprehend a total view of nature by investigating its theoretical structure—a precursor to the natural sciences as we know them today.

Oken’s seminal work Allgemaine Naturgeschichte Für Alle Stände, or General Natural History For All Classes, was published as a series of seven volumes between 1833 and 1843. At more than 5,000 pages in its entirety, the atlas depicts known species ranging from beetles and fish to birds and ferns. In many cases, insects or plants are shown in various stages of development, like a butterfly displayed alongside its larval and pupal forms.

Containing illustrations engraved and printed by a number of contributors, the vivid portrayal of wildlife and botanicals attempts to classify similar specimens, labeling them with both their common and scientific names and grouping like examples into compartments.

Explore Oken’s entire Allgemaine Naturgeschichte in the Biodiversity Heritage Library’s digital archive, where you can also download tens of thousands individual illustrations. You may also enjoy flipping through an eclectic array of rare Japanese schoolbooks,  admiring Elizabeth Gould’s detailed bird illustrations.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Flip Through More than 5,000 Pages of This Sprawling 19th-Century Atlas of Natural History appeared first on Colossal.

“Bustle” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 48 x 48 inches. All images courtesy of Western Exhibitions, shared with permission

In Persuasions, artist Edie Fake turns their attention to the wise, enduring insights of plants. The new series of acrylic and gouache paintings expands Fake’s bold visual language to incorporate flowers, which they render amidst the kaleidoscopic geometries they’re known for. Evocative of architecture and mechanics, the colorful graphic works veer into the spiritual, melding the myriad systems that order our lives.

Fake often begins with a meticulous sketch in graphite. Using rulers and protractors, they render impeccably precise shapes that together, comprise a highly engineered network of gears, bottles, and lanterns. This series draws on Tarot and the diagrams of Swiss healer Emma Kunz (1892-1963), who saw her work as answers to larger philosophical, spiritual, and medical problems. Vines crawl up the side of “Theater of the Fool” and the flowering pillars of “The Old Arrangements in a New Light” beam with radiant light, seamlessly binding the botanical and the divine.

Persuasions is on view from April 12 to June 1 at Western Exhibitions in Chicago. Find more from the artist on Instagram.

“Theater of the Fool” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 48 x 48 inches

“One Thing To Fit Another” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 36 x 36 inches

“Mr. Snakes and Ladders” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 48 x 48 inches

“The Old Arrangements in a New Light” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 36 x 36 inches

“Suasion” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 36 x 36 inches

“Hurricane Lantern” (2024), acrylic and gouache on wood panel, 16 x 12 inches

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Kaleidoscopic Paintings by Edie Fake Invoke the Spiritual Wisdom of Plants appeared first on Colossal.

“Ambush.” All photos © Cynthia James, shared with permission

In the 1901 book, The Life of the Bee, Nobel prize-winning author Maurice Maeterlick wrote, “If the bee disappeared off the face of the earth, man would only have four years left to live.” Regardless of determining an exact range of years for such a catastrophe, the insect’s extinction has been a great concern for well over a century. We’ve become increasingly aware of the devastating consequences of living without bees, a dreadful outcome scientists are continually reckoning with.

In her extensive Bee Series, artist Cynthia James shines a light on the human and environmental necessity for the winged pollinators, imagining a botanical catalog of plant forms and insects thriving amongst each other in another world. Describing a seminal experience directly related to this inspiration, James reflects on when she and her partner lived in the lowland jungle of Yucatán, a seminal experience that inspired the body of work. The artist explains:

We began to see the environment change rapidly as global warming increased along with the use of pesticides damaging bees and butterflies. We saw butterflies in swarms in the 1990s, but we never expected their disappearance to occur so quickly. Pesticides and genetically modified seeds permeated with antibacterials are new elements shocking the finely balanced interplay between humans and food sources.

Seemingly dancing or moving in rhythmic trance, bees of varying hues percolate in each painting, assembling in elegant spirals and double helices. Swaying in similar fashion are the plants the pollinators swarm, appearing as almost mutated forms of familiar foliage that allude to 18th century grotesquerie.

James’ work will be on show in The Bird and the Bees and More: Pollinators opening at the Wildling Gallery in California next week. For more updates and work, check out the artist’s website and Instagram.

“DNA”

“Genetic Murmuration”

“Birds vs. Bees”

“The Ark”

“God Save the Queen”

“The Save”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Cynthia James Portrays Otherworldly Pollinators and Plants in Her Dreamlike ‘Bee Series’ appeared first on Colossal.

The touch-me-not plant, officially known as mimosa pudica, quickly contracts its leaves when shaken or brushed by assumed predators. When one of these specimens senses danger like a nearby herbivore ready to take a bite, calcium erupts within its system, prompting exposed areas to recoil.

Scientists have known since the 1980s that other plants, not just those deemed sensitive like the touch-me-not, similarly transmit such warnings. And thanks to molecular biologists at Japan’s Saitama University, we now have visual evidence of the process.

A video released by Science Alert shows bright green quickly illuminating the leaves of the thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana. Researchers had genetically modified the plant so that when calcium flowed through their cells in greater proportions, a biosensor fluoresced. This color change occurred in response to airborne chemicals emitted by nearby plants overrun with caterpillars. The damaged specimens released the compounds to warn their fellow flora, which then triggered the calcium reaction in their neighbors.

You can read more about the science behind the groundbreaking study in Nature. (via PetaPixel)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Unprecedented Footage Shows Plants ‘Talking’ to Their Neighbors about Potential Predators appeared first on Colossal.

“Triticum” (2020), wooden platform and flame-shaped borosilicate glass,
26 x 27 centimeters.
Photo by Steven van Kooijk. All images © Nataliya Vladychko, shared with permission

“After the fire brigades rescued the London Natural History Museum from German incendiaries, Albizia silk-tree seeds bloomed on their herbarium sheets, liberated from two hundred years of dormancy by the precise combination of flame and water,” writes Daniel Mason in an essay about thriving urban flora. The post-Blitz surprise, which became a beacon of hope amid WWII’s destruction, confirmed that nature is fiercely resilient and loyal to starting anew.

This moment is also one artist Nataliya Vladychko returns to as she sculpts spindly specimens in glass, capturing both their delicacy and strength in a single form. Beginning with a drawing or watercolor rendering, Vladychko translates the early stages of common crops like mung beans and wheat into delicate sculptures. The initial sketch determines the artist’s twists and turns at the glass burner and allows her to “concentrate better on the movement, plasticity, and colour composition I find appropriate for a particular model,” she says. “For me, the little plants are independent individuals who gain their own identity during the making process.”

Displayed on sheets or nested inside egg-shaped porcelain forms, the tiny specimens sprout wriggling roots, leaves, and vivid buds colored with deep reds and purples. “My aim in making a germplasm is not to mimic nature but to interpret how I see and experience it,” she says. “Playfully balanced compositions of glass germs that occupy their own space emerge. Admiration of the beauty and strength of a plant sets my visual process to work!”

Explore an archive of Vladychko’s botanical drawings and sculptures on her site.

“Vigna radiata” (2023),
porcelain and flameworking glass, 70 x 14 centimeters. Photo by Hein van Liempd

Left: “Dance” (2020), flame-shaped borosilicate glass, approximately 12 x 4 centimeters. Photo by Steven van Kooijk. Right: Detail of “Vigna radiata” (2020), flame-shaped borosilicate glass,
about 6 x 3 centimeters.​
Photo by Steven van Kooijk

Detail of “Dance” (2020), flame-shaped borosilicate glass, approximately 12 x 4 centimeters. Photo by Steven van Kooijk.

Left: “no title” (2022),
flameworked glass and porcelain, 17 x 12 x 6 centimeters. Right: “no title” (2022),
flameworked glass and porcelain, 13 x 8 x 4 centimeters. Photos by Hein van Liempd

“Wheat” (2022), porcelain and flameworking glass, 70 x 14 centimeters.
Photo by Hein van Liempd

“Vigna radiata” (2020), flame-shaped borosilicate glass,
60 x 50 centimeters.​
Photo by Steven van Kooijk

“Me” (2021),
flameworking glass, drawing and painting, laser cut, hand-bound book, 21 x 18 x 5 centimeters. Photo by the artist

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Through Delicate Glass Sprouts, Nataliya Vladychko Emphasizes the Wild Resiliency of Seeds appeared first on Colossal.

“Clown verdoyant” (2023). All images © Kaori Kurihara, shared with permission

Elegant petals, scalloped fans, and seed-like textures coat the Kaori Kurihara’s whimsical ceramic sculptures (previously). She incorporates delicate botanical details with eccentric forms, melding realism with fiction. “I try to associate imaginary plants with a more realistic feeling, so I observe more consciously the environment in which they grow,” Kurihara tells Colossal. She also grows different types of plants from seed in order to observe and record details as they grow. “The aim is to create something that looks more alive and closer to life,” she adds.

Kurihara’s work is featured in the forthcoming book Ceramic Artists on Creative Processes, scheduled for release in February. Pre-order your copy on Bookshop, and explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

Detail of “Clown verdoyant”

“Collectionneur de silence” (2023)

“En réponse au claire de lune” (2023)

Detail of “En réponse au claire de lune”

“Hug Me Quick” (2023)

Left: Detail of “Collectionneur de silence.” Right: Detail of “Hug Me Quick”

“Danseuse de boîte à musique” (2023)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Otherworldly Plants Sprout Colorful Stems and Blooms in Kaori Kurihara’s Incredibly Detailed Ceramics appeared first on Colossal.