Avant Gardens ed. 9
Welcome to Avant Gardens, a blog/newsletter where I explore all things strange, experimental, and exciting in the arts.
Hello mateys. Welcome to another month of all things strange and remarkable. I’ve just started back my semester of teaching after having a busy ‘holiday’ of writing the latest chapter of my thesis and doing some research assistant work. We’ve got an eclectic and varied mix this month, I hope you enjoy.
Kosei Komatsu - The Sea Rises, the Sky Falls
I’ve highlighted Komatsu’s work here before (which you’ll see at the back end of the video - the twirling discs) and here’s another one, in time for his latest exhibition in Tokyo. I just love the gentle, angelic form of the delicate, paper-like objects, and the dancing lights and shadows they cast. It truly feels like something from Heaven (if I believed in such a thing ;))
Madzia Kuczko- selection of pieces
Isn’t this the most darling thing you’ve ever seen? Kuczko’s a Polish artist who makes/paints each ceramic work individually (and so there will always be unique discrepancies between each). She also has art prints. I just think her work is so cute, mystical, fantastic. My favourites are of course, the wolfy ones. Maybe some day I will be able to acquire a piece! (Though sending ceramics via international mail always feels a bit risky).
You can check out her website here.
Reinis Gailītis - selection of pieces
Gailītis is a printmaker who specialises in hand-engraved wood, copper, and wood/copper engraving. It’s apparently an old, difficult trade - but when you look at his stuff, it’s totally worth it and he’s nailing it. I’ve shared this short video of him creating a piece centred around moths.
You can check out his youtube channel here, his Etsy here, and his website here.
Cannupa Hanska Luger - (NO)stalgia (2022)
You know when you come across something and it just… sticks into your gut? That’s how I feel about this piece. I’m fascinated, disturbed, awed… all of the conflicting but absorbed feelings. This is truly such a fantastic piece of art, craftsmanship, everything. I would love to someday make things like this (especially the antlers).
Hanska Luger is an Indigenous American artist, you can feel the depth of his work in every part of his practice - the materials sourced, the composition, the subject.
You can read more about him and find his other artworks here, at his website.
Nathan Ballingrud - North American Lake Monsters (2013)
I read this book (a collection of short stories) some months ago and was instantly enchanted. It has now become a book that I think of often, and have added to my rotation of comfort books I read once every 6-12 months. It’s definitely strange, weird, lonely, eerie, a bit slipstream/Lovecraftian. The stories are so human, even though the worlds the characters find themselves in don’t feel totally that way. Even just writing about it now, I find myself dreaming of the unique worlds he made for each story, the breaking of the natural boundaries we normally take for granted, and wanting to go back there (yet also being afraid to).
Anyway, you can check out Ballingrud’s blog/website here, and I definitely recommend purchasing/borrowing/reading it. As long as it’s not from Amazon! (we don’t support evil companies here). Worldofbooks (where you can buy 2nd hand books) has one copy left here!
I liked that this month just worked out to be a bit of everything - installation, print art, ceramics, literature. Next month is the 10th issue of Avant Gardens - from there, I’m not sure where I’ll go. Whether to continue for another 10, or try something a bit different. We’ll see - it always depends where the wind takes me.
For now, have a lovely weekend and cya next time xxxx
