Tomás Saraceno “On Space Time Foam”

Massive Aerial Structure

On Space Time Foam is the name of the latest interactive creation made ​​by Argentine architect and artist Tomás Saraceno for the arts center HangarBicocca in Milan. This installation consists of three levels allowing visitors to immerse themselves in a world suspended, strange and moving.

Jonathan Gabb – “3D form painting”

Jonathan Gabb: Prime Titanium 4

When is a painting not a painting? When it’s the work of Jonathan Gabb,a South London based artist who creates extraordinary 3D pieces by mixing PVA glue and acrylic paint to produce his wonderfully colourful work. At first glance it appears to be pretty playful, which it is, but there’s also a real bedrock of theory behind his pieces and his references range from rococo architecture to Art Nouveau to Damien Hirst and Wayne Thiebaud.

Jonathan’s solo show System opens today at London’s WW Gallery and came about after he won the inaugural SOLO award, part of the prize for which included a three month residency to make site-specific works for the gallery. HIs longstanding interest in toying with the painting process – and with viewers’ expectations – developed while he was art school and sprung from a desire to “make reference to the act of painting in the works.”

He says: “I want to stretch the material value of paint in a 3D form in a way which transforms it into something else – the paint is freed from a fixed surface and can be viewed as an object.

“Audiences have a greater understanding about art now and I want to show something that not only has a lot of thought put into it, but which is also enjoyable to look at. I think there is something very authoritative about the traditional method of painting, and I think that ties in with people’s expectations. With these works people engage with the material nature of the medium, more than the colour, in a way in which they usually wouldn’t with traditional painting.”

System runs until February 2.

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  Jonathan Gabb: System installation shot

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  Jonathan Gabb: System installation shot

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  Jonathan Gabb: System installation shot

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  Jonathan Gabb: System installation shot

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  Jonathan Gabb: System installation shot

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  Jonathan Gabb: System installation shot

Further reading:

www.wilsonwilliamsgallery.com

Scribbled Wire Sculptures Mysteriously Appear to Float

Sculptor David Oliveira wrote to us to tell us about his very interesting wire sculptures. At first glance, it seems as though someone has just scribbled ink drawings on top of existing photos. In reality, the Lisbon-born artist who has a degree in Sculpture and a Masters in Artistic Anatomy from the Lisbon Faculty of Fine Arts, twists and turns wire until he creates figures and objects.

How does his background play into his work? “For me, to be able to ‘draw’ I must know and understand the object,” he tells us. “The knowledge of the anatomy is very important, because the skin stretches and changes according to what is underneath. The structure is fixed. The challenge is to correspond the theme with the object. My works live in an ethereal world, like a memory or a dream. The theme has to respect that.

“The spectator has a very important role, because in order to see, he has to fill the empty spaces with his own memories, creating a bond with the sculpture and his own life experiences.”

Adding to the intrigue, mysteriously, some of these pieces look like they’re actually floating. Reminds me of Gavin Worth’sartworks but messier…

David Oliveira’s website and Facebook page