We’re a huge fan of the work of Rotterdam based artist Anouk Griffioen. After her collaboration with Annemarieke van Drimmelen where photography and illustration came together in beautiful collages and oversized prints she continued that that theme and created a series of new works. We very much love the oversized pieces of paper and canvas with thick black lines, smudges and spaces, abstract and layered drawings.
You can see here work at Re:Rotterdam (Boompjes 60-68, Rotterdam, from 08-02 till 12-02 2012), Collectie Imaginaire – BuroRotterdam (Keileweg 26, Rotterdam, from 11-02 till  26-02 2012), Multisolo (EU Office in Brussel from february till april 2012) a.o. For more shows click here >

When libraries are going digital thousands and thousands of books and encyclopedias are becoming worthless piles of paper. Multidisciplinary artist Guy Laramee started to use these books for his sculptures of carved book landscapes and structures entitled Biblios and The Great Wall. Beautifully detailed landscapes, mountains and ancient structures are carved out of the paper like thin layers of soil and stone in an almost unreal scale. Truly amazing!
When you’re in Montreal this april, Galerie d’Art d’Outremont will host a show with this work. (via lostateminor)

‘Collection of light‘ by ‘Human since 1982‘ is simply a collection of LEDs which together constitute a lamp in itself. The aim is to create an aura of a real collection (similar to a collection of insects) and expose each illuminant as a worthy industrial product. The LEDs are all labeled (with name, size and colour temperature) and arranged in a specific order to accomplish harmonic light. Being a collector myself I love this. And more than just an assortment, it probably is the most useful collection I’ve seen lately.
Apart from the big lamp which contains a selection of 300 LEDs there are also two smaller versions with 150 LEDs and 90 LEDs available.

The German Freunde von Freunden (friends of friends) visited  the Boros residence – a former Second World War air raid shelter built in 1942 in central Berlin. An amazing place where Christian and his wife, Karen, live with their son between a dazzling collection of art and installations by Elizabeth Peyton, Olafur Eliasson and others. A dream home that once seemed impossible to realize, but has now become an art manifesto for Berlin’s historical Mitte district, where change is the norm. We can’t wait to see the whole interview and more pictures in 2012.

We love books, especially when they are really well made. Editions Bessard was started by the Parisian photographer Pierre Bessard (know for his amazing book ‘Wuhan Boiler Company Workers‘) and is now growing into one of those publishers with an amazing portfolio of publications, limited editions and books you just ‘need to have’.
They’ve just published ‘Ramadan in Yemen’ by the Australian artist Max Pam. A limited edition of 1000 copies, with a beautifully designed book’s cover and clamshell design by Titus Nemeth. The first 250 copies will be personally numbered, stamped, embossed and signed by Max Pam, and you still have the chance to get one of those 250 (Reserve your copy today by email). Check this preview video of the book on Facebook.

Costume National asked Sergei Sviatchenko from Close Up & Private to give his take on the Autumn/Winter ’11/’12 collection. The result is “The Beetles News”. In a mix of photography and collage the style is inspired on a concert back in 1965 from The Beatles in Milano. An inspiring mix of classic style and minimalism. As Ennio Capasa describes it: “In Sergei’s work I see many of Costume National’s characteristics: simplicity, attention to detail, pop style and minimalism”. Be sure to check the CoNSCIOUS video project as well – pretty amazing!

Reykjavík  based designer Högni Valur Högnason finished the Icelandic Academy of the Arts with ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure’. The project is about the deaths in our life and consist of three pieces: The first one is about childish innocence, black dripping game consoles, a football and more icons from our past. The second one is about love with roses, lipstick and sweet memories and third one about death it self. Make sure to check his website, there’s some more pretty good work.

Highlight Gallery in San Francisco will open Belgian artist Renato Nicolodi’s first solo exhibition in the United States next week. The dark, bold and colossal architectonic sculptures all build around the theme of Libido Moriendi, a Latin phrase that, like Nicolodi’s work, is situated between classical and modern paradigms; it is the noble “death wish” of the Stoic philosophers and the Freudian counterpart to the libido, the “death drive.” In Nicolodi’s architectonic sculptures, libido moriendi is not explicit, but intertwined with another Freudian concept, Das Unheimliche, or the uncanny.
Highlight Gallery, 3043 Clay St., San Francisco, US — November 4, December 12, 2011.

Just found out about the Istanbul based artist Kerem Ozan Bayraktar and his amazing miniature installations. His series ‘Stasis’ of miniatures are stunning scale models of a bike frozen in a piece of ice, the Hindenburg Airship, a part of bisected F-86 Sabre Aircraft, a rusty old Tugboat and many more. Please visit his website for some more, and for a look behind the scenes of the production process.

Portland based artist and printmaker Alyson Provax made this beautiful series of works called ‘The Durations’. A series of hand printed silkscreen monotypes loosely based on perception of time as filtered through awkward language. Beautiful type, washy, aquarelle-like faded words, printed on heavy weight paper. Be sure to visit her Etsy shop, as well as the one of her boyfriend Anthony Roberto.

The Dutch publisher Roma Publication just published this amazing little book ‘Looking at Trees’ by Irene Kopelman. In subtile dots and fragile lines she puts on paper the essence of a tree in two series of water color drawings over 40 pages. In an edition of 400 copies, signed and numbered by the artist, this truly is a beautiful little treasure!

Last week we got a mail from André Hemstedt and Tine Reimer who recently finished their photography diploma piece called ‘Constructing Motion – Of Acting and Sensing in a System of Equilibrium’. Based on current and anticipated climatic events, the project examines the actions and perceptions of people in an unstable equilibrium – resulting in a set of beautiful images!