Martha Friedman, a Brooklyn-based artist originally from Detroit, is interested in locating the point at which common objects slip into abstraction and, in some instances, eroticism. In her series of cast rubber sculptures titled Rubbers—in her double-entendre style—she explores the nature of sculptural and bodily materiality through food as well as the rubber band. Here I’ve included only the rubber bands which are my favorites. From the colorful chromogenic prints of the oversized stationery supply, to her full room installations, these are just a lot of fun. Wouldn’t it be great to have a pair of those interconnected rubber bands extended from floor to ceiling in your home?

You can see Martha Friedman’s rubber tongues here, and some of here waffle sculptures here.

Photos: James Ewing; Andy Pixel; Purple Kiaris and Wallspace Gallery.

via artslant

This post was created, coincidentally, before learning of Kim Jong Il’s death, earlier today. It seems particularly fitting, then, (if maybe a bit distasteful) to post it now.

Stephen Ives is an English-born, Australian artist who works in 2D as well as 3D. His work is about contrast and balance and the juxtaposition of the two. His ideas derive from a mix of experiential, mental, historical and cultural concepts constructed from toys, scrap, junk and bought materials which are collected, cut, morphed and distorted to create a whole. His Mr. Dictator Head Series needs no explanation unless, of course, one is not familiar with the Mr. Potato Head toy.

From top to bottom, left to right:
Saddam Hussein; Stalin; Kim Jong Il; Idi Amin; Lenin; the skull base; Margaret Thatcher; Adolf Hitler.

via Saatchi

A few years back, a friend of mine printed out one of Emily Eveleth’s beautiful oil paintings of a jelly donut and had it hanging by her desk. That was the first time I saw any of Eveleth’s paintings. She has been painting jelly donuts for two decades and the results, I think, are quite spectacular.

In an interview in the Boston Globe by Sebastian Smee, Eveleth responds to the question: “Why donuts?”

“What I immediately found compelling . . . was the appeal of the irony in presenting, in a seriously and formally painted manner and on a monumental scale, an object that was at once so ubiquitous, so ordinary, so everyday. The object of my paintings, is not necessarily the subject. But I do like that it keeps coming back to the object. I’m not trying to negate that.’’

Clearly, the donuts are left open to interpretation: some may see just donuts; others landscapes with boulders; and still others, erotic close-ups of bodily orifices. Regardless, Eveleth’s technique and mastery of oil painting, as well as the luminescence she creates, are there no matter how the viewer interprets them. I imagine that if John Singer Sargent had painted donuts, they might have looked a lot like these.

You can see more of Emily Eveleth’s painting and drawings at her website.