Emil Alzamora’s Distorted Human Figures Appear to Melt, Morph, and Defy Gravity

Artist Emil Alzamora explores the human body through his figurative sculptures that distort, inflate, elongate, and deconstruct physical forms in order to reveal emotional situations and narratives. Alzamora works with a variety of materials including bronze, gypsum, concrete, and other ceramic materials to create pieces with smooth, almost non-descript surfaces to instead draw attention to shape and scale. Born in Peru, he began sculpting in the fall of 1998 in New York at the Polich Tallix fine art foundry, and has since exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, most recently at Expo Chicago and the International Sculpture Symposium In Icheon in South Korea. You can see more of his work on Facebook and on Instagram.

Watch Emil At Work

Culled from Colossal

Bird Enthusiast Creates LEGO Birds

Tom Poulsom, a gardener and tree surgeon from Bristol, turned his passion for birding into these amazing LEGO brick bird replicas.

“I have always been a fan of LEGO, and a big admirer of the natural world, rekindling my love for LEGO two years ago and building what most boys would build, cars, trucks and spaceships, etc. However, being a gardener and a lover of nature I wanted to build something related to my job. One day during a break from digging in a customers garden a Robin Red Breast landed on my fork handle. This was the eureka moment behind what is now the LEGO Bird Project,” Poulsom said.

More info: Flickr | LEGO Ideas (h/t: gizmodo, twobirdersandbinoculars)

The First Set To Be Released

Woody Woodpecker

Leeto and Latifah the LoveBirds

 

Victor The Violet-Eared Hummingbird

Stormy the Snowy Owl

 

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Culled from the boredpanda

Stunning Portraits That Can Only Be Seen From The Right Angle

French artist Bernard Pras is widely known for his unbelievable found-object installations. In anamorphic artworks like these, he hides his images in piles of what seems to be plain junk. They can only be seen through a particular device or just from a right angle.

In order to create the anamorphic effect, the artist carefully plans the whole installation and places seemingly random objects, selecting them by color and size so that they would resemble a famous portrait or image from a single perspective. Pras uses plastic waste, old pills, boxes, bags, packs, dolls, toys, musical instruments, household objects, and pretty much anything that seems right for the color and texture he needs. The results are simply jaw-dropping!

More info: bernardpras.fr

Culled From Boredpanda

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Sino-French Art Park Recycles the Eiffel Bridge

Fifty artists have gathered to create an “art park” in Shunde, Southern China, which celebrates 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and France.

Inaugurated earlier this week, the 200,000 square-meter Sino-French Art Park is dotted with sculptures made from what looks like scrap metal. It’s scrap metal with a special cachet, though: it was dismantled from the Eiffel Bridge in Bayonne, Southwestern France, shipped to China, and used by the participating artists to make installations. The bridge was designed by the  French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel in 1864, before he went on to create the Eiffel Tower.

“When the ruins of the Eiffel Bridge, which represent the Industrial Revolution, were transported to and rebuilt in Shunde, a modern global manufacturing and processing center, it was like a bridge was built connecting past and present,” Lu Mingjun, one of the curators for the opening exhibition, told the Global Times.  

Fan Zhe, the art director of the park project, initiated the recycling of the Eiffel Bridge, hoping the metal could gain new life in the artists’ hands. Fan’s theme for the exhibition is “AA Utopia” — “AA” means to “go Dutch” in Chinese slang and refers to the idea that all parties are participating equally in the “Utopia” of the art park.

Big-name artists like Wang Guangyi, Sui Jianguo, and Xu Bing have participated in the project. French artist Catherine Val and Chinese artist Li Ming each built a sculpture of Charles de Gaulle and Chairman Mao respectively. The statues have been placed so it looks like the two figures are in conversation.

Culled from artnet

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Interview with Yinka Shonibare

Yinka Shonibare was born in London and lived in Nigeria with his family until the age of 16, when he moved back to London for school. At age 18, he fell ill with a debilitating disease that rendered one half of his body paralyzed. With the assistance of artists, Shonibare creates paintings, sculpture, photography, and installations that explore the “artificial construct” of the Western art canon. His signature is his use of what appears to be African textiles that, with closer investigation, have cross-cultural roots—the main exporters of this type of textile are based in the UK and the Netherlands. In another cross of cultures, Shonibare uses the textiles to reenact classic scenes in art history, for instance Fragonard’s The Swing or Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.His poignant work has been widely recognized and exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, documenta XI, and the Brooklyn Museum. In 2004, he was on the shortlist for the Turner Prize for his “Double Dutch” exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rottendam. He lives and works in London.

When did you know you wanted to be an artist?  
When I was at school. I enjoyed art lessons and knew I wanted to carry it on as a career

What inspires you?
I am often inspired by artists and musicians who think outside the box and who are not ‘mainstream’ in their approach. I like the work of Yayoi Kusama. I like Fela Kuru, and I like the musician Tricky because he’s creative and interesting to watch.

If you could own any work of modern or contemporary art, what would it be?  
It would be a James Turrell light installation because I’m going through a spiritual period, and I want something I find calm and spiritual, such as his light pieces.

What are you working on at the moment?
I have two exhibitions in New York in the spring that I am working on, and a large exhibition later next year that will tour Asia. I am always thinking toward the next exhibition

When not making art, what do you like to do?  
To run a supper club, read books, and go to the cinema. I also like going to the opera, watching live music, and going to the ballet.

 

Culled From artnet

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