As a foundation of life and a reservoir of history, soil is a powerful and timeless cultural symbol. The word “human” actually comes from the Latin word “humus,” meaning earth or ground. Reflecting on humanity’s relationship with the Earth, artists have long embraced soil as a medium, from Palaeolithic sculptures to Renaissance frescoes using soil…
Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans first came to attention in the 1980s as an experimental filmmaker, often collaborating with dancers and performers during this period. Today best known for his sculptures and site-specific installations, his works draw from a rich trove of references, spanning literature, music, philosophy, photography, poetry, art history and science. Employing…
Fusing historical and literary motifs with personal experiences, Taipei-born New York-based multidisciplinary artist Cole Lu’s works tell meandering stories of dissonance and longing. Bolstered by references from ancient mythologies, Lu’s sculptures and paintings — made of burnt wood panels, linen, engraved metal, and concrete — nod to diverse cultures and temporalities. On view now and…
Combining poetry, film, sculpture and installation, French-Moroccan artist Tarek Lakhrissi’s transdisciplinary practice centres on queer and diasporic perspectives and experiences. His installations borrow their aesthetics from literature and pop culture, often using autofiction—the interfusion of a biographical report with fictional elements—to probe socio-political narratives. Inaugurating NıCOLETTı’s new London gallery space on 91 Paul Street, Lakhrissi’s…
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, multidisciplinary artist Pepón Osorio moved to the South Bronx in 1975. Informed by his background in theatre and performance as well as his experiences as a child services case worker and professor, he has pioneered a type of artmaking prioritising social engagement. His richly textured sculptures and installations examine…
One of electronic music’s most promising new voices, Berlin-based Brazilian producer and vocalist LYZZA is pushing the genre’s boundaries through rigorous experimentation — her feet firmly set in the underground. She has just released an original soundtrack for Third World: The Bottom Dimension, a fantastical game-turned-immersive-exhibition developed by her friend and collaborator, Gabriel Massan. The…
American artist Dominic Chambers, hailing from St. Louis and currently based in New Haven, is best known for his vivid paintings that depict scenes of play and contemplation as a means to explore ideas of personal interiority. A writer himself, Chambers draws inspiration from diverse texts and movements, creating paintings dense with literary and historical…
London-based artist Vivien Zhang asks us to rethink the imperfect systems — linguistic, visual, and taxonomic — that shape our understandings of the world. Drawing from personal experiences and intensive research, she incorporates diverse motifs into her abstract compositions. Her canvases become spaces where elements from different cultures and contexts converge, breaking away from their…