ArtDiction November/December 2019

Habitual. Art.

Sculpture & Architecture

Volume 19 November/December 2019 www.artdictionmagazine.com

FEB 13–16, 2020 | CHICAGO, IL nationalwca.org

ArtDiction is a platform for artists to display their work and a resource for the habitual art lover.

Staff

Devika A. Strother, Editor-in-Chief devika@artdictionmagazine.com Isabella Chow, Associate Editor bella@artdictionmagazine.com Phillip Utterback, Staff Writer phillip@artdictionmagazine.com

Devika Akeise Publishing assumes no responsibility for the opinions expressed by authors and artists in this publication. Š2019 of Devika Akeise Publishing. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

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FEATURES 14 Architectural Simplicity

Alex Nerovnya is an architect with a minimalistic signature style that allies wih the environment, energy and the universe.

24 The World’s Most Famous Structures

Here, we discuss some of the most famous architectural structures in the world.

30 Expressing What is Beyond Him

David Altmejd creates sculptures from his imagination, not as a means of self-expression, but to express something beyond him.

44 Art Deco—A Style That is Visible Everywhere In this article, we examine the history of Art Deco and the characteristics of its architectural style.

48 From Pop Culture to Clay Sculpture Nazarri Dmytryshyn is a sculptor who draws inspiration from actors, pop culture, science-fiction movie creatures, comics, and games.

Cover photo courtesy of David Altmejd.

In Each Issue 5 small talk 6 news 8 bella’s books 10 music 12 exhibits 50 artist & ad index

Photo courtesy of Alex Nerovnya.

©2019 by Devika Akeise Publishing

ArtDiction | 4 | November/December 2019

small talk

©

I

can stare endlessly at a beautiful photograph, a breathless painting, or a flashing installation. But as I was putting this issue together, I realized that I don’t touch enough art.

And I certainly don’t make enough art, especially with my hands. So, I was overwhelmingly inspired by the two sculptors we interviewed in this issue.

They touch art all day. Touching art is an art within itself. You must always use the proper tools and handle the materials with the utmost care.

I learned something else with this final issue of the year. Architecture is one of the most unique forms of art in that functionality can become more important than its aesthetic counterpart.

In my search to find structures that are both functional and beautiful, I was met with the works of architect, Alex Nerovnya (page 14). Inspired by simplicity and minimalism, Alex uses architecture to interact with the natural environment. The result? Functionality AND beauty!

David Altmejd (page 30) sculpts with materials like wood, concrete, steel, Plexiglas, hair, quartz, and rhinestones.

Nazarri Dmytryshyn (page 48) uses mostly oil-based wax and clays. Although their art differs in style, both men create works that come to life by the constant touch and manipulation of their hands.

As we wrap up this year, I leave you with a few reminders: Make more art. Touch more art. Be kinder to yourself.

See you in 2020 . . .

ArtDiction | 5 | November/December 2019

Nazarri Dmytryshyn

news Young Climate Strikers Urge Art World to Pay Attention Miami is full of young people who continue to advocate for climate changes.

During the Art Basel Miami event, youth protestors of Miami Climate Strike and supporters gathered and began on the steps of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse as they made their way to their final stop, the Torch of Friendship in Downtown Miami.

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Miami is one of America’s major coastal cities considered to be “ground zero” for sea-level rise. The timing was perfect because of the relevancy of Art Basel Miami Beach and the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 25 occurring in December 2019.

“This strike takes place on this date (Dec. 9) because the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg calls for climate strikes every once in a while when there’s a momentous event happening in order to create meaningful climate action,” says John Paul Mejia, head organizer of Miami Climate Strike.

One of the concerns with large-scale art fairs like Art Basel Miami Beach is the carbon footprint left. In 2018, the show attracted an attendance of 83,000 people in five days, according to Art Basel.

With all this global and high-profiled attraction, it raises the concern if anyone is aware of the imminent danger Miami faces with climate change as it erodes away and if anyone is doing something about it.

Miami neighborhoods like Little Haiti are catching the eyes of developers due to the fact it sits on a higher sea level than areas like Miami Beach and Downtown Miami.

“Being born and raised in Little Haiti, flooding is something I am accustomed to. It is clear to see that the most vulnerable communities are suffering the worst from climate change,”

24-year-old Jessica Saint-Fleur speaking at the Miami Climate Strike. Saint-Fleur is an organizer for Engage born and raised in Little Haiti.

says Jessica Saint-Fleur, Organizer for Engage Miami.

ideas and network to build community leaders.

Miami artist Eddie Arroyo, known for his political paintings, centered Little Haiti in a series about gentrification that was on display in the recent Whitney Biennial.

The founder of the CLEO Institute and it’s Senior Climate Advisor, Caroline Lewis, speaks fondly by saying, “They are so unapologetic for a livable future.

We, as adults, should be the wind beneath their wing to give them the opportunity to affect change. I can do nothing but applaud that.”

“Art should be used to make a political statement,” says Andrew Weaver, press director of Miami Climate Strike.

He says that local climate activists will use similar awareness tactics as they have for Art Basel to capitalize on the impending Super Bowl, taking place in Miami in early 2020, saying, “We are definitely going to make a political statement.”

A spokesperson for Art Basel told artnet News the symbiotic relationship of art fairs with climate change by saying, “Art fairs are not by their nature environmentally friendly as they require extensive travel and shipping and create waste. Addressing the environmental impact of the international art world is a pressing issue.”

The bellies of the youth, climate activists of Miami, are fueled by local non-profit organizations like the CLEO Institute. Those who spoke at the strike in Downtown Miami are all certified speakers by the institute’s GenCLEO youth program. Members attend climate trainings to stay updated to the latest climate change science, share ArtDiction | 6 | November/December 2019

Lincoln Center Scraps Richard Lippold’s Chandelier Sculpture in $550M Renovation Plans New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center have announced plans for a $550 million renovation project to address the David Geffen Hall’s much-maligned acoustics issues. The plans include a significant change to the stage, bringing it closer to the audience and placing sections of seats behind the orchestra for a slight “in the round” feel. The seating capacity will decrease from over 2,700 seats to around 2,200. There are also plans to expand the lobby and make it a more welcoming public space. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2022 and will continue through intermittent spurts until March 2024.

One of the announcement’s more controversial decisions would leave out Richard Lippold’s “Orpheus and Apollo,” one of the original pieces

news of public artwork that had been a part of the building’s lobby since it opened in 1962. Measuring 190-feetlong and 39-feet-high, weighing in at around five tons and incorporating 450 steel wires, the striking piece of art greeted visitors before they entered what was then known as the Philharmonic Hall. The mid-century, avant-garde deconstructed chandelier was removed in 2014 for what was publicized to be conservation purposes. After a long delay, questions around its return began circulating as admirers of the piece feared the worst. Deborah Borda, president of the New York Philharmonic, said the sculpture was not reinstalled due to safety concerns over the piece’s wiring.

Photos. The process will begin in March 2020 with a two-week period dedicated to photographing Atlanta and the surrounding area.

The news concerned fans and scholars of mid-century art who worry “Orpheus and Apollo” may not be publicly exhibited again. Theodore Grunewald, a preservationist, stated in an interview, “It’s really tragic because of the complexity of the sculpture. Once you take Humpty Dumpty apart, it’s hard to put it together again.”

A canvas by French PostImpressionist Paul Gauguin created during his Tahitian period recently sold for €9.5 million (about $10.5 million) at the Paris auction house Artcurial on Tuesday. The painting drew nearly twice the house’s estimate of €5 million to €7 million (about $5.6 million to $7.76 million).

Lincoln Center still has many sculptures in and outside of its buildings from its early days, however the slow loss of “Orpheus and Apollo” is a shock to preservationists and art lovers. As of now, there are no announced plans of showcasing it elsewhere.

High Museum of Art Will Be First U.S. Venue for Magnum Live Lab Photography Residency Next year, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta will host artists Carolyn Drake, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, and Mikhael Subotzky as part of the first U.S. iteration of its Live Lab photography residency, which is organized in collaboration with the international photographic cooperative Magnum

The artists will edit their work on-site at the museum, and they will open their workspace to visitors at select times. The residency will conclude with an exhibition of their work, which will be on view at the High from March 28 to April 19. Gregory Harris, assistant curator of photography at the High, said in a statement, “It will be thrilling to see Atlanta through the lenses of these artists.”

Rare Gauguin Sells for $10.5 M. at Auction in Paris

According to Artcurial, the 1897 painting, Te Bourao II—“tree” in the Tahitian language—was first acquired

by Gauguin’s French dealer, Ambroise Vollard, whose descendants held it until 1985, when it was acquired by Tuesday’s seller. It had been on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for 10 years. The buyer has been identified by the house only as an “international collector.”

David Geffen Hall (via Ajay Suresh’s Flickrstream).

Arts in Boston. The other eight are currently held in public collections worldwide. Gauguin’s L’homme à la hache (1891) holds the artist’s auction record, having sold for $40 million at Christie’s in 2006. His 1892 Nafea Faa Ipoipo? (When Will You Marry?) reportedly sold privately for over $200 million in 2015 to a Qatari buyer, though that transaction remains unconfirmed.

The recent sale comes amid reassessments of Gauguin’s legacy in light of his relationships with the Tahitian people depicted in his paintings. The “Gauguin Portraits” exhibition at the National Gallery in London, which runs through Jan. 26, focuses on the young girls the artist lived and fathered children with during his decade in Polynesia.

Visitors to the show are greeted by wall text reading, “Gauguin undoubtedly exploited his position as a privileged Westerner to make the most of the sexual freedoms available to him.”

Te Bourao II is one of the few paintings from the artist’s Polynesian period still in private hands, and the first Tahitian painting to enter the French auction market in 22 years.

It is one of a series of nine works painted by Gauguin while he worked on the larger piece Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, currently held in the collection of the Museum of Fine ArtDiction | 7 | November/December 2019

bella’s books The New York Time’s 10 Best Books of 2019 Disappearing Earth By Julia Phillips In the first chapter of this assured debut novel, two young girls vanish, sending shock waves through a town perched on the edge of the remote, brooding Kamchatka Peninsula. What follows is a novel of overlapping short stories about the various women who have been affected by their disappearance.

Each richly textured tale pushes the narrative forward another month and exposes the ways in which the women of Kamchatka have been

Me.” Adam Gordon returns as the protagonist, but this time as a high school debate star, and mostly in the third person. Equal portions of the book are given over to the voices of his psychologist parents, and to a former classmate whose cognitive deficits are the inverse of Adam’s gifts. The earlier novels’ questions about art and authenticity persist; but Adam’s faithlessness is now stretched into a symptom of a national crisis of belief. Lerner’s own arsenal has always included a composer’s feel for orchestration, a ventriloquist’s vocal range and a fine ethnographic attunement. Never before, though, has the latter been so joyously indulged, or the bubblicious texture of late Clintonism been so lovingly evoked.

Many of the nine deeply beautiful stories in this collection explore the material consequences of time travel. Reading them feels like sitting at dinner with a friend who explains scientific theory to you without an ounce of condescension.

Each thoughtful, elegantly crafted story poses a philosophical question; Chiang curates all nine into a conversation that comes full circle, after having traversed remarkable terrain.

York City to the Mexican border; the couple’s marriage is on the brink of collapse as they pursue independent ethnographic research projects and the woman tries to help a Mexican immigrant find her daughters, who’ve gone missing in their attempt to cross the border behind her. The brilliance of Luiselli’s writing stirs rage and pity, but what might one do after reading such a novel? Acutely sensitive to these misgivings, Luiselli has delivered a madly allusive, selfreflexive, experimental book, one that is as much about storytellers and storytelling as it is about lost children.

Lost Children Archive By Valeria Luiselli

Night Boat to Tangier By VKevin Barry

The Mexican author’s third novel — her first to be written in English — unfolds against a backdrop of crisis: of children crossing borders, facing death, being detained, being deported unaccompanied by their guardians. The novel centers on a couple and their two children (all unnamed), who are taking a road trip from New

A desolate ferry terminal on the Spanish coast isn’t a place where you’d expect to encounter sharpedged lyricism or rueful philosophy, but thanks to the two Irish gangster antiheroes of Barry’s novel, there’s plenty of both on display, along with scabrously amusing tale-telling and much summoning of painful memories. Their lives have become

Exhalation By Ted Chiang

shattered — personally, culturally and emotionally — by the crime.

The Topeka School By Ben Lerner Lerner’s exhilarating third novel, after “Leaving the Atocha Station” and “10:04,” rocks an emphatically American amplitude, ranging freely from parenthood to childhood, from toxic masculinity to the niceties of cunnilingus, from Freud’s Oedipus complex to Tupac’s “All Eyez on

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bella’s books so intertwined that the young woman whose arrival they await can qualify as family for either man. Will she show? How much do they care?

Their banter is a shield against the dark, a witty new take on “Waiting for Godot.”

Say Nothing By Patrick Radden Keefe Masked intruders dragged Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, from her Belfast home in 1972. In this meticulously reported book — as finely paced as a novel — Keefe uses McConville’s murder as a prism to tell the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Interviewing people on both sides of the conflict, he transforms the tragic damage and waste of the era into a searing, utterly gripping saga.

The Club By Leo Damrosch The English painter Joshua Reynolds just wanted to cheer up his friend Samuel Johnson, who was feeling blue. Who knew that the Friday night gab sessions he proposed they convene at London’s Turk’s Head Tavern would end up attracting virtually all the leading

lights of late-18th-century Britain?

Damrosch brings the Club’s redoubtable personalities — the brilliant minds, the jousting wits, the tender camaraderie — to vivid life, delivering indelible portraits of Johnson and Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, the actor David Garrick, the historian Edward Gibbon and, of course, Johnson’s loyal biographer James Boswell: “a constellation of talent that has rarely if ever been equaled.”

The Yellow House By Sarah M. Broom In her extraordinary, engrossing debut, Broom pushes past the baseline expectations of memoir to create an entertaining and inventive amalgamation of literary forms. Part oral history, part urban history, part celebration of a bygone way of life, “The Yellow House” is a full indictment of the greed, discrimination, indifference and poor city planning that led her family’s home to be wiped off the map. Tracing the history of a single home in New Orleans East (an area “50 times the size of the French Quarter,” yet nowhere to be found on most tourist maps, comprising scraps of real estate whites have passed over), from the ’60s to Hurricane Katrina, this is an instantly essential text, examining the past, present and possible future of the city of New Orleans, and of America writ large.

No Visible Bruises By Rachel Louise Snyder Snyder’s thoroughly reported book covers what the World Health Organization has called “a global health problem of epidemic proportions.” In America alone, more than half of all murdered women are killed by a current or former partner; domestic violence

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cuts across lines of class, religion and race. Snyder debunks pervasive myths (restraining orders are the answer, abusers never change) and writes movingly about the lives (and deaths) of people on both sides of the equation. She doesn’t give easy answers but presents a wealth of information that is its own form of hope.

Midnight in Chernobyl By Adam Higginbotham Masked intruders dragged Jean Higginbotham’s superb account of the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of those rare books about science and technology that read like a tension-filled thriller. Replete with vivid detail and sharply etched personalities, this narrative.

music Billboard’s staff has listed their 100 favorite songs of 2019. The songs are a combination of personal favorites that were released or peaked on the charts this year. We have listed just their top 10. For the full list, you can go to https://www.billboard.com/.

10. Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer” Taylor Swift wrote this song with producers Jack Antonoff and Annie Clark.

The lyrics celebrate a bad decision that could possibly turn out to be a good one, and rumored to be written about her current boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.

9. Ariana Grande, “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” Ariana Grande links the subject of infidelity with boredom. Her half-hearted tone carries the song of her matter-offact request in quite a nonchalant way.

8. Vampire Weekend, “Harmony Hall” With lyrics that include,“Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight/ Of wicked snakes inside a place you thought was dignified,” it’s easy to see how this song made the list.

Especially in this political climate.

7. Post Malone, “Circles” “Circles” can float somewhere between pop/rock, adult contemporary, dance, and rap. This year, greatly aided by this song, Post Malone may have gained more fans than ever before.

6. 21 Savage feat. J. Cole, “A Lot” Peaking at No. 12 on the charts, the Atlanta rapper, 21 Savage, addresses how far he as come. But he was arguably upstaged by J. Cole who focused attention on the failures within the music industry, the justice system, and media spin.

5. Rosalía feat. J Balvin & El Guincho, “Con Altura” This single pays tribute to old-school reggaetón and fuses modern flamenco and Middle Eastern sounds. Rosalía’s music video filmed by Director X even entered YouTube’s Bil-lion View Club in October. .

4. Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, “Old Town Road” (Remix) The most popular song of the year, “Old Town Road” broke the all-time record

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for weeks atop the Hot 100. Lil Nas X earned six Grammy nominations with his hit and can be considered in the converstion of top artists that can master genre-bending.

3. Jonas Brothers, “Sucker” The Brothers returned to the charts after taking a six-year hiatus. The single landed at No. 1, and they became the first boy band to secure that position since B2K in 2003.

2. Lizzo, “Truth Hurts” Although released in 2017, this track reached the height of success this year.

With her unforgettable line, “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that b— ch,” Lizzo’s hit stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks.

1. Billie Eilish, “Bad Guy” Billie Eilish’s single unseated the longest-running No. 1 in Hot 100 history. “Bad Guy” may sound weird and sketchy, but it’s appeal cannot be denied. The catchiest part of the song is happens to be without vocals.

In addressing the “bad guy” persona, Billie says, “It’s a weird thing to hear coming out of a girl’s mouth. In any movie or children’s book, there’s always a bad guy. Even if it’s a girl, the title is the bad guy. I wanna be that.”

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exhibits Rachel Harrison Life Hack October 25, 2019—January 12, 2020 Rachel Harrison’s (b. 1966) first full-scale survey will track the development of her 25-year career, incorporating room-size installations, autonomous sculpture, photography, and drawing. Her works are known to bring together the breadth of art history, the impurities of politics, and the artifacts of pop and celebrity culture.

The exhibition at the Whitey Museum will include approximately 100 works spanning the early 1990s to the present, drawn from private and public collections throughout the world.

This exhibition is organized by Elisabeth Sussman, Curator and Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, and David Joselit, Distinguished Professor, Graduate Center, City University of New York, with Kelly Long, curatorial assistant.

Major support for Rachel Harrison Life Hack is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Whitney’s National Committee.

Generous support is provided by Candy and Michael Barasch and The Morris A. Hazan Family Foundation,

Sueyun and Gene Locks, and Susan and Larry Marx.

Significant support is provided

by Constance R. Caplan, Fotene Demoulas and Tom Coté, Krystyna Doerfler, The Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund, Ashley Leeds and Christopher Harland, Han Lo, Diane and Adam E. Max, and Chara Schreyer.

Additional support is provided by Eleanor Cayre, Suzanne and Bob Cochran, The Cowles Charitable Trust, Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg, Wilma and Howard Kaye, and Emily Rauh Pulitzer.

Generous exhibition production support is provided by Greene Naftali, New York, with additional support from Regen Projects, Los Angeles.

Christina Quarles October 19, 2019—January 19, 2020 The Hepworth Wakefield will present the first solo exhibition in a European museum by American artist Christina Quarles (b.1985) Quarles’ vibrantly coloured and

Copyright Rachel Harrison

textured paintings depict bodies that barely seem contained by the frame of the canvas. Body parts appear in varying states of abstraction, framed by architectural devices that create ever-shifting spaces.

On display will be a range of recent paintings and drawings including a number of new works created specifically for this exhibition.

The ways in which her painted bodies elude definition reflects her own experience of being misread or mis-represented, as a queer cis woman, born to a black father and white mother.

Occasional fragments of text in earlier paintings and recent drawings reveal some of the literary, musical and autobiographical references that underpin her work. They also draw parallels with the use of textual fragments in the early paintings of David Hockney, displayed in the concurrent exhibition, Alan Davie & David Hockney: Early Works.

Alonso Berruguete: First Sculptor of Renaissance Spain October 13, 2019—February 17, 2020

Christina Quarles For a Flaw / For a Fall / For the End, 2018 Courtesy of the artist and Pilar Corrias Gallery, London Photo: Damian Griffiths

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Alonso Berruguete: First Sculptor of Renaissance Spain is the first major exhibition held outside Spain to

celebrate the art of the most important sculptor active on the Iberian Peninsula during the first half of the 16th century.

Berruguete was a revolutionary force in the arts, famed for creating sculptures in painted wood that convey astonishing depths of emotion through their dramatic poses, gestures, and facial expressions. The exhibition presents more than 40 works from across his varied career, including an early painting from his time in Italy as well as a selection of his drawings. The primary focus is on his sculptures, however. A large group of his finest have been lent by the Museo Nacional de Escultura in Valladolid. Some are used at the Gallery to recreate a section of one of his elaborate, multi-tiered altarpieces, known as retablos in Spanish.

The exhibition is curated by C. D. Dickerson III, curator and head of sculpture and decorative arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

A fully illustrated catalog accompanying the exhibition is the first general book on Berruguete published in English and features essays by Dickerson as well as Manuel Arias Martínez, head of collections and deputy director, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid, and Mark McDonald, curator of prints and drawings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The catalog is published by the National Gallery of Art in association with the Meadows Museum, SMU, Dallas; Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica/Center for Spain in America, Madrid and New York; and Yale University Press, New Haven and London.

Alonso Berruguete, The Sacrifice of Isaac, 1526/1533, painted wood with gilding, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid. Image © Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid (Spain); photo by Javier Muñoz and Paz Pastor; CE0271/013.

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Architectural Simplicity

A

lex Nerovnya is an architect based in Moscow who works with a team of fellow architects and designers. With a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the Moscow Architectural Institute, Alex’s signature style and approach to architecture is guided by fundamental principles of honest minimalism, alliance with the environment, energy, and universal accessibility.

Q: When did you become passionate about architecture?

A: I can’t say that figuring out my passions and the professional direction I want to go in happened quickly and effortlessly. I have always enjoyed the general professional sphere of architecture and

construction, when I was in high school, I would spend hours watching massive construction sites in Moscow. It was not until I enrolled into one of undergraduate programs in the Moscow Architectural Institute that I managed to solidify my passions into a somewhat definite direction of architectural design.

Q: What inspires your designs?

A: First of all, I pay attention to something all people, not only architects, notice in the first place —the beauty and harmony of the building’s exterior, primarily—of a main façade. The ergonomics and a good experience of people using the building is my second, but not any less important, focal point of attention.

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Q: Regarding the Slovenian Village project, how did this concept begin?

A: We had a client that was exploring a few opportunities to create a small-scale village of private villas near lake Bohinj in Slovenia. We kept in touch for quite some time, bouncing around ideas, from somewhat basic to pretty crazy ones.

Some of the results of our creative work you can now see on our Instagram. As of right now, we are waiting for our client to figure out

the financing so that this project could be brought to life.

Q: Is there a strategic approach to merging environment and architecture?

A: I adore using architecture to interact with the natural environment. By utilizing glass walls, we are able to visually erase the separation between the indoors and the outdoors. One of the beautiful effects of this approach is that throughout the day, the mood and feeling of the interior changes

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drastically due to a massive role of natural light, penetrating through the glass.

Q: What factors must be considered when designing a structure that is energy efficient?

A: As always, when you go through the necessary steps of conceptual design, it is necessary to take into account the factors of the area where the building will be located, the location of the house relative to east and west, its exposure to light.

The main factor that affects the energy efficiency of a building is the usage of electricity (light, heat) and water. Therefore, we pay a lot of attention to the research of new building materials, which allows us to maximize the usage of natural

light and keep the heat inside the house.

Q: What materials do you like to work with the most?

A: Most of all we like to work with multi-chambered windows, lightweight innovative materials and metal frame structures.

Q: It seems glass is incorporated a lot in the Slovenian Village project?

Is that intentional? If so, why?

A: Yes, of course, the inclusion of glass in the Slovenian village concept was intentional. This is an incredibly beautiful place in Slovenia, a real natural monument.

By visualizing the villas there, we sought to provide guests with as many opportunities as possible to

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enjoy the surrounding landscape, even if they are inside the house.

Q: How would describe your signature style?

A: I am a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and I like to imagine my style to be contemporary minimalism, a 21 century’s take on Wright’s architectural philosophy.

Q: What inspires you creatively?

A: Scandinavian nature, with its cold rivers, rocky hills, mysterious forests and harsh seacoasts, to name a few things. Wild nature in general, and humans’ ability to live in alliance with it through smart usage of innovative materials.

Q: Are there any future projects you and the team are working on that you would like to share, and where is the best place for people to view your work?

A: Most projects that we work on are conceptual designs, and we try to post as much visual content from these projects as we can. We currently have a significant backlog of projects, that we’re trying to work through in due time. We’re a pretty small team, and our production capacity so far is not catching up to the demand for architectural designs from across the world, as well as for new material in social media.

We have recently started working in an entirely new setting for us—the Middle East, specifically Kuwait. No major disclosures so far, but there is a high chance that you will see more middle eastern-themed ideas on our channel soon. There’s also a website, en.alex-nerovnya.com, that is soon going to be updated in a major way—we’re thinking of including about 10 more detailed project descriptions and a full-fledged blog platform.

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“I adore using architecture to interact with the natural environment. By utilizing glass walls, we are able to visually erase the separation between the indoors and the outdoors.�

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By Ana Nenadic

The World’s Most

T

here are many architectural wonders that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. They have been built in different periods and for different purposes, but all of them are very impressive. One of the most exciting things about travel is that you get to see various examples of local architecture.

Here is the list of five most famous architectural structures in the world.

The Egyptian Pyramids The Egyptian Pyramids are the largest and the most monumental funerary edifices in the world. They are the most famous symbol of Egyptian architecture, as well as its culture. In fact, ancient Egyptians be-lieved in life after death and the pyramids were built to protect the Pharaoh’s body as well as his belong-ings and jewelry. So far, about 140 pyramids have been discovered, and the most famous are those in Giza.

They were built in different periods and thousands of slaves have worked on their construction. It was estimated that the Giza Pyramids were built in the period from 2590 BC to

2504 BC. The Great Pyr-amid of Giza is the oldest building on the list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal is a marble mausoleum in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the emperor Shah Jahan, after the death of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

This beautiful white mausoleum was designed by the court architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The architect was inspired by Persian archi-tecture, but he managed to design something even more beautiful. Taj Mahal is considered the jewel of Muslim art in India. It is the best example of Mughal architecture, that is known for use of white marble and red sandstone, delicate ornamentation work as well as for combining Indian and Islamic elements. The Taj Mahal is considered as one of the most beautiful masterpieces of the world’s heritage and it is protected by UNESCO. The Colosseum The Colosseum is not only the landmark of Rome, it is one of the greatest examples of Roman architec-ture. This massive stone Amphitheatre was commissioned around 70

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Famous Structures AD by Roman emperor Vespasian, as a gift to his nation. It was built in a short period of time and it was completed in 80 AD. It is the largest Roman Amphitheatre ever built and it could host more than 50,000 spectators. During its long history, it served for spectacles, gladiator battles, and in one point it was abandoned and damaged, due to neglec-tion.

It is considered as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The Sagrada Familia The Sagrada Familia, also known as Basilica of the Holy Family, is one of the most famous churches in Europe. It is located in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Barcelona, Spain. It was designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, in his famous and unique style. Gaudi’s style is usually defined as a com-bination of Gothic and Art Nouveau forms. He devoted whole his life to building this masterpiece, whose construction started in 1882. After almost 150 years and many architects who have worked on the pro-ject, the cathedral still hasn’t been completed.

However, it is a landmark of Barcelona. Modern architects claim that it is impossible to find any similar building anywhere in the world.

The Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museum was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, in his unique style that is actu-ally a combination of more contemporary styles. When the museum was opened in 1959, the design was criticized, and the building was considered oversized. However, today it is one of the most famous build-ings in New York and a unique place for displaying art. It is one of the youngest buildings that were des-ignated a National Historic Landmark. The Guggenheim Museum is an example of future-oriented archi-tecture. The architect didn’t like the idea of belonging to any particular style, he rather defined his style as free, organic and international.

There are many other wonderful buildings all over the world.

Their architects have usually been ahead of their time, but the time has confirmed the beauty of their designs. We are lucky because so many great masterpieces have been preserved, so we can admire works from different periods.

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Expressing What is Beyond Him

D

avid Altmejd is a Canadian sculptor living and working in New York with a unique artistic style that sometimes goes beyond words. His creativity started at an early age. He recalls drawing a lot as a kid, but he never stopped. So, going to art school became the obvious choice.

“I started art school as a painter, but the program included a mandatory ‘Intro to Sculpture’ class. So that was the first time I made a sculpture. And from that point, it was clear to me that it was the most meaningful thing I could do.”

David prefers to sculpt heads and busts because of the intimacy that develops between himself and the object, and some of his sculptures may seem to take

on a surrealist interpretation. “My work usually takes a surrealist form, but that’s not the initial intention.

It ends up like that because I let the process be as playful and free as possible,” he explains.

David is inspired by “nature, the uncanny, magic, and things that are unclassifiable.” His go-to tools include a drill, table saw, and Dremel tools. He uses materials like wood, concrete, steel, Plexiglas, hair, quartz, resin, glass, epoxy clay, epoxy gel, acrylic paint, and rhinestones for his sculptures. “Ideas usually come out of working on the previous sculpture, when I get excited about an idea that came about by accident. I start the next sculpture to explore and push this idea,” he says.

Many artists describe their art as a means of expression. David has a different point of view—one that

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“My work usually takes a surrealist form, but that’s not the initial intention. It ends up like that because I let the process be as playful and free as possible.”

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undoubtedly adds to his artistic individualism. “I tend to remove myself from what I do. I like the idea that something happens between the object and the world, and it has nothing to do with me. So, I don’t really see the art as expression. Maybe the expression of something that’s beyond me.”

David is learning to speak differently about his work.

“I’ve been on this spiritual path this past year where I’ve felt a huge shift in consciousness. I don’t feel I relate to reality the same way I did before,” he shares.

“The work itself will probably not change as a result.

The transition is internal not external.” To follow David’s journey, visit his online portfolio at davidaltmejd. com and on Instagram: @daltmejd.

David’s next solo show will be in June 2020 at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels.

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“I tend to remove myself from what I do. I like the idea that something happens between the object and the world, and it has nothing to do with me.�

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“I’ve been on this spiritual path this past year where I’ve felt a huge shift in consciousness.”

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Art Deco—A Style That i

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is Visible Everywhere

A

rt Deco is one of the most popular decorative arts and architecture movements in the world. Originating in the 1920s, this distinctive style found its way to Western Europe and the United states during the 1930s. But the style first exhibited in Paris in 1925 and derived its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. However, the eclectic characteristics of Art Deco had already begun to gain momentum in Brussels before World War I. With the rise of the monotonous work on the assembly after WWI, Americans were fueled by a desire of escapism. They began to focus their attention on new advances in technology that included automobiles radio and, movies, which all helped connect people to a fusion of style—Art Deco. This style began to influence trends, music and many other

forms of art, but especially architecture.

Art Deco served to embody the ideas of the modern age. Many architectural historians refer to the Art Deco style as “Modernistic” and define it as being a part of the Modern Movement in architecture in the early 20th century.

This style of architecture first gained public attention in 1922 in a design competition for the Chicago Tribune Headquarters. Architect Eliel Saarinen submitted an Art Deco design that was not chosen, but was widely publicized and embraced as an exciting new architectural style.

Art Deco buildings are characterized by their sleek, linear appearance with stylized, often geometric ornamentation.

The primary façade of Art Deco buildings often features a series of set backs that create a stepped outline. Lowrelief decorative panels can be found at entrances, around windows, along

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roof edges ,or as string courses. The buildings also feature distinctive smooth finish building materials such as stucco, concrete block, glazed brick or mosaic tile. Additionally, decorative details can incorporate various artistic or exotic motifs to suit the building’s function or the architect’s whim. Chevrons, zigzags, and other geometrical motifs are common forms of ornament on Art Deco style buildings. Since the Art Deco style was seen as a rejection of historic precedents in its use of new construction technology, it was particularly suitable for the design of the 20th century’s newly emerging building form, the skyscraper.

Art Deco style buildings may be found in a variety of forms such as the tall urban skyscrapers to smaller scale buildings, like post offices, theaters, schools, armories, and apartment buildings. Movie theaters of the

1920s and 30s often incorporated Art Deco design throughout the buildings from the curving lines of the exterior to the stylized décor of the interior curtains, murals, and light fixtures.

Art Deco design was extremely practical when it came to execution. For projects on a tight budget, a simple box could be decorated with motifs and embellished with appendages that made a conceptually rudimentary structure appear fashionable and up-to-date.

Visual interest could be further enhanced by stretching linear forms horizontally and vertically throughout the building. This was frequently done with bands of brick, canopies, or copings.

Although a short-lived movement, Art Deco design and architecture made a large impact and is visible around almost every American city today.

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Art Deco Characteristics In classic Art Deco, rectangular forms were often arranged in geometric fashion and broken up by curved ornamental elements. The aim of classic Art Deco was always to achieve a monolithic appearance with applied decorative motifs.

Materials Art Deco materials included stucco, concrete, smoothfaced stone and terra cotta. Steel and aluminum were often used along with glass blocks and decorative opaque plate glass (vitrolite).

Roof Art Deco designers adorned flat roofs with parapets, spires or tower-like constructs to accentuate a corner or entrance. Decorative curiosities such as chimneys were added to further enhance the design Windows Windows in Art Deco designs usually appear as punctured openings, either square or round. To maintain a streamlined appearance for the building, they were often arranged in continuous horizontal bands of glass. Wall openings are sometimes filled with decorative glass or with glass blocks, creating a contrast of solid and void forms while admitting daylight.

Many large apartment buildings found aesthetic success with decorative embossed spandrel panels placed below windows. The Kennedy-Warren Apartments is an example of Art Deco design .

Entrance Doorways in Art Deco architecture are sometimes surrounded with elaborate pilasters and pediments and door surrounds are often embellished with either reeding (a convex decoration) or fluting (a concave decoration). The quality and extent of the decorative motifs vary by project and designer.

Source: http://www.askthearchitect.org/

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From Pop Culture to Clay Sculpture

“

I’ve been sculpting since I wad a child; it has always fascinated me,” says Nazarri Dmytryshyn a sculptor from Wroclaw, Poland. Alhough he took a 10-year break from sculptiong while growing up, he re-discovered his passion for the art when he found a website of adult sculptors profiling their work. “They just blew my mind, and I couldn’t didn’t believe some adult still sculpt, so I thought, why should I not try also?”

Nazarri states that he has a fascination with portraits, the human face, and especially anatomy. His love for creatures based on humanoid anatomy can also be

seen in some of his work.

Nazari’s most important tools are his loop tool, spatual, and rake. “With those three, I can make any piece with just them. I have spent hundreds of dollars on instuments but end up sculpting with tools I make myself,” he says.

His sculptures are made mostly of oil-based wax, clays (Monsterclay, Chavant) and sometimes polymer clay.

When his clients aren’t keeping him busy, Nazarri draws inspiration from actors, pop culture, science-fiction movie creatures, comics, and games.

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Nazarii’s portfolio often includes characters he describes as “strong mentally, physically, mean but only towards there enemies, and are interested in defending the weak.” He attributes this to being bullied in school when he was a small kid. Now as a grown man (2 meters tall), bullies are a non issue, but he recalls how it used to make him feel that the world is so unjust.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want or like to pick idealistic characters for my sculpture expression. I

love them to be mean and cruel, but when there is a chance to help and protect--they do!”

To see more of Nazarii’s work follow him on Instagram @nazarenko_sculpting and at esty.com/shopNazariiSculptiongRoom.

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Garrett Bradley: American Rhapsody December 19, 2019 - March 22, 2020 www.camh.org Fantasy Garden of the Gods Tyrone Webb

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