Art

Imagining Worlds After Climate Disaster, Julie Heffernan Melds Chaos and the Sublime

Julie Heffernan likens her paintings to “advent calendars gone haywire.” Working in oil on canvas, the Brooklyn-based artist renders vast dreamworlds with tiny vignettes scattered across wider landscapes. Appearing from a distant or aerial perspective, the pieces envision the possibilities of life after fires, floods, and other climate disasters and potential opportunities for emerging anew.

Grand in scale and scope, the intricate paintings bear titles like “Self Portrait as Emergency Shipwright” and “Self Portrait with Sanctuary,” which nod to the personal details within each work. Various characters recur in the pieces, but where they once appeared alongside fresh fruit as an enduring metaphor for youthfulness, today, they’re surrounded by imagery of decay.”I find myself repeatedly drawn to landscape painting in order to explore my own issues, both planetary and personal,” she says. “I imagine landscapes that bear witness to our rise and fall as a great power but also to the workings of one woman’s mind.”

 

Painting, the artist explains, is a way “to see better” and to place the struggles and difficulties of the world within a context. Despite fires raging in the background, or in the case of “Weather Change,” a massive iceberg rapidly melting in the seas, Heffernan’s works are not fatalistic, instead highlighting the immense beauty of human ingenuity. She adds in a statement:

I wanted imagery that might suggest other ways we could cope and possibly even flourish in a new extreme climate and to give my characters things they must tend. I give them water and tools to stop the burning; the tarred and feathered heads of big polluters; a library of great books to surround themselves with as they contend with the madness of man-made calamities.

Evoking the tradition of Hudson River School artists like Thomas Cole, Heffernan’s paintings focus on landscapes that appear amidst chaos as a sort of paradise. She’s also known to paint over and retouch works even after she’s deemed them complete, each time revising her idyllic vision and inching closer to the sublime.

It’s worth checking out an archive of the artist’s paintings to see how the scenes and characters have evolved. Follow her work on Instagram, along with updates about her graphic novel, Babe in the Woods: Or, the Art of Getting Lost, slated for release in September.

 

Art History

In Ernesto Neto’s Largest Installation to Date, the World Is a Crocheted Ship Moving to a Single Rhythm

An enormous, cascading installation of crocheted fabric strips stretches across a cavernous gallery in Ernesto Neto’s newest exhibition. At MAAT in Lisbon, the Brazilian artist (previously) presents Nosso Barco Tambor Terra, which translates to “our boat drum Earth,” a solo exhibition encompassing one of the largest suspended sculptures he has ever made.

Created with a team of assistants in his expansive Rio de Janeiro studio, the new piece draws on images of sails and maritime materials like canvas and rope. Neto nods to the history of transatlantic voyages between Europe and South America, stitching remnants of bright chintz, common in Brazil, into a swathe of fabric punctuated by points of interest like a vessel full of decorated drums or corn kernels,  a symbol of international trade. Historically, the percussive instrument kept a rhythm for the galley rowers, some of whom would have been enslaved people.

 

Suspended from the ceiling, the central work in Nosso Barco Tambor Terra adopts a cell-like structure, with numerous colors and patterns that intertwine, drape, stretch, and overlap. The piece suggests “a ship, a primordial beast, a forest, or even, and more likely, all of those things and infinite others,” writes curator Jacopo Crivelli Visconti in the exhibition text. He emphasizes that Neto portrays the world as a whole, defining the earth as “ancestral, pre-colonial, and even pre-human.”

The artist considers the dark legacies of enforced displacement and slavery during colonial rule, which the Portuguese implemented in Brazil. He situates the work as celebration of the planet’s array of people, cultures, and “worldviews whose strength and beauty one must recognise, reaffirm,” Visconti says. Amid destruction and chaos, Neto’s ark-like vessel envisions a way to propel the whole world forward.

The exhibition opens May 2 and continues through October 7 in Lisbon. Find more from MAAT.

 

Art

Max Naylor Rambles Through Mystical Woodlands in Ethereal Oil and Ink Paintings

Through ancient wooded glens and along rugged sea coasts, Max Naylor invites us to wander along shady passageways, squeeze between lichen-cloaked boulders, and inhale the fragrance of wildflowers. His detailed landscapes in ink and oil paint (previously) capture petals, branches, waves, and an array of botanicals in dreamlike scenes that teeter elegantly on the edge of reality.

Time of day is often indeterminate in Naylor’s paintings, where blue may suggest nighttime or just the shade cast below the cover of trees. Sometimes the scenes entice us into misty distances or a hilly horizon beyond. The artist employs atmospheric light and repeating tree trunks or flowers that verge on pure pattern, playing with our perception of presence and depth by drawing attention to all details at once.

If you’re in Bristol, stop by Spike Island Open Studios between May 3 and 5 to see Naylor’s work in person alongside more than 70 other artists. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

 

Art Design

Hot Dogs, Rats, and Birkin Bags: Paa Joe’s Wooden Coffins Are an Ode to NYC’s Ubiquitous Sights

New Yorkers are known for their unwavering devotion to the city, but would they want to spend eternity inside one of its once-ubiquitous taxis or worse yet, in the body of a wildly resilient subway rat?

In Celestial City at Superhouse, Ghanaian artist Paa Joe presents a sculptural ode to the Big Apple by carving an oversized rendition of the fruit, a Heinz ketchup bottle, a bagel with schmear, and more urban icons. Invoking the charms of all five boroughs, the painted wooden works open up to reveal the soft, padded insides of coffins, and two—the car and condiment—are even fit for humans.

 

Since 1960, Paa Joe has been crafting caskets, which are known as abeduu adeka or proverb boxes to the Ga people, a community to which the artist belongs. Coffins are a crucial component to the safe passage of the dead to the afterlife and a family tradition for Paa Joe. A statement says:

In the early 1950s, Paa Joe’s uncle, Kane Kwei pioneered the first figurative coffin, a cocoa pod intended for a chief as a ceremonial palanquin. When the chief passed away during its construction, it was repurposed as his coffin. This innovative art form quickly gained popularity, and Kane Kwei began creating bespoke commissions resembling living and inanimate objects, symbolizing the deceased individual’s identity (an onion for a farmer, an eagle for a community leader, a sardine for a fisherman, etc.).

He continues this legacy today with his Fantasy Coffins series. In addition to the New York tributes, his works include a Campbell’s soup can, an Air Jordan sneaker, fish, and fruit. The sculptures often exaggerate scale, including the diminutive Statue of Liberty and a gigantic hot dog that shift perspectives on the quotidian.

Celestial City is on view through April 27. For a glimpse into Paa Joe’s carving process, visit Instagram.

 

Art

Ewa Juszkiewicz’s Reimagined Historical Portraits of Women Scrutinize the Nature of Concealment

From elaborate hairstyles to hypertrophied mushrooms, an array of unexpected face coverings feature in Ewa Juszkiewicz’s portraits. Drawing on genteel likenesses of women primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries, the artist superimposes fabric, bouquets of fruit, foliage, and more, over the women’s faces.

In a collateral event during the 60th Annual Venice Biennale, presented by the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso and Almine Rech, Juszkiewicz presents a suite of works made between 2019 and 2024 that encapsulate her precise reconception of a popular Western genre. Locks with Leaves and Swelling Buds showcases her elaborate, technically accomplished pieces using traditional oil painting and varnishing techniques.

Juszkiewicz’s anonymous subjects are reminders of the systemic omission of women from the histories of art and the past more broadly. Literally in the face of portraits meant to memorialize and celebrate individuals, the artist erases their identities entirely, alluding only to the original artists’ names in the titles. In a seemingly contradictory approach, by drawing our attention to this erasure, Juszkiewicz stokes our curiosity about who they were.

“By covering the face of historical portraits, Juszkiewicz challenges the very essence of this genre: she destroys the portrait as such,” says curator Guillermo Solana. In a recent video, we get a peek inside the artist’s studio, where she describes how elements of another European painting tradition, the still life, proffers a rich well of symbolic objects to conceal each sitter’s face, from botanicals to ribbons to food.

Locks with Leaves and Swilling Buds continues in Venice at Palazzo Cavanis through September 1. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

 

Sponsor

Diverse Expressions: 5 Artwork Themes to Discover at The Other Art Fair Brooklyn This May

Get ready for an art event unlike any other. The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art returns to ZeroSpace in Brooklyn from May 16 to 19. With each new fair comes new experiences, and this edition is no different as it unveils a vibrant roster of fresh artwork, new talents, and unexpected delights.

This May installment promises an array of exciting features, including 120+ independent artists set to showcase their collections, the 10th edition of Mike Perry and Josh Cochran’s “Get Nude, Get Drawn” portrait experience, complimentary hand-crafted whisky cocktails (exclusively for those aged 21+) on Thursday’s Opening Night, and live performances on both Opening Night and the highly anticipated Friday Late soirée.

Ahead of the main event, we’re highlighting five categories of artists based on shared themes, offering a look at the diverse range of artistic practices at this year’s fair.

Still life

Bella Wattles fuses colorful objects, ceramics, and thrifted treasures into whimsical paintings that echo societal harmony and celebrate women and LGBTQ+ creators.

Still lifes by self-taught artist Dawn Beckles bridge the energies of London and the Caribbean. Her bold strokes celebrate the beauty of everyday moments, inviting viewers to reconnect with their own stories.

 

Celebrating Black Portraiture

Bryane Broadie, a graphic artist from Prince George’s County, Maryland, discovered his passion for art in elementary school. His digital and mixed media works reflect Black history and culture.

Inspired by childhood resourcefulness and Brooklyn’s cultural tapestry, Sean Qualls crafts evocative illustrations and paintings. His work investigates identity, history, the human spirit, and universal human experiences.

 

Embossed and Embroidered

Guided by pure geometries, Brooklyn-based mixed-media artist Carrie Lipscomb explores space and texture, urging viewers to engage with the subtleties in found materials.

Sophie Reid is a visual storyteller who blends geometric shapes across multimedia. She honed her craft as a graphic designer and in her art, she uses illustrations and stitch works to echo her love for design and travel.

 

New Mediums

Mounts in colored acrylic boxes: NYC-based Venezuelan-born photographer Isabella Bejarano champions environmental causes through her sustainable fine art prints, donating proceeds to combat climate change.

Film lightboxes: Montreal-based artist and film aficionado Hugo Cantin creates patterned collages on vintage film stock. Housed in light boxes, his illuminated creations fuse sophisticated design with historical narratives.

 

Text

Toronto artist Patrick Skals escaped the corporate world in 2019 to pursue his unique vision. His collection, In Other Words, aims to disrupt norms with abstract commentary, challenging viewers to be introspective.

Kelli Kikcio, an artist from Toronto now based in Brooklyn, takes a hands-on approach in her work, which reflects her commitment to social justice and community engagement.

See work by all these artists and more at The Other Art Fair’s Brooklyn edition, on view from May 16 to 19.

Grab your tickets for an unforgettable weekend at theotherartfair.com.