Day 4762: Storefronts, Signage, and Graffiti of Urban Streets & Otters.

   

"Nowhere to Hide": torn collage.

    

  

Want music?

    Click: Al Green, Still in Love with You.

 

2GN2S

Storefronts, Signage, & Graffiti 

in Ultra-Detailed Portraits of Urban Streets

by Pizza in the Rain, or PITR 

All images © Pizza in the Rain

Whether portraying a graffiti tag below a retail window or the bond patterns of bricks, the artist known as Pizza in the Rain, or PITR, illuminates city streets and commercial ephemera in striking detail.

With meticulous attention to geometry and quotidian features, the Chicago-based artist highlights business signage and urban facades in an almost narrative way, with the occasional figure passing through on foot or on a bike. Simultaneously immersive and nostalgic, we’re invited in and at the same time reminded of disappearing vestiges of past eras.

Collaboration with Max Seckel

From storefront to storefront, we can imagine PITR’s compositions are snapshots of one continuous city, even though many of the distinctive locations are in different places around the U.S. Many recent scenes are evocative of New Orleans, with boarded-up shutters, like those often seen in the French Quarter, or historical markers. Circo’s Pastry Shop is a real place in Brooklyn, and The California Clipper is a well-known lounge in Chicago.

PITR renders everyday details with equal importance, from sprayed markings on the sidewalk, like the kind the gas company might make, to weathered awnings and neon logos. Nothing blurs into the background in his portraits of individual buildings and maximalist city blocks. On one hand, the locations appear realistic, yet on the other, there is a sense of fantasy and surrealism in their precisely drawn, slightly dystopian imperfections.

If you’re in New Orleans, stop by Mortal Machine Gallery to check out these pieces alongside new works by Max Seckel in Parallel Structures, which opens on September 12. Explore even more on PITR’s Instagram.

 

  

 

A 4+ minute video, Lost, here

 

  

 

Just because ...

Asian Green Bee-eater.

 

 

Sunday's Smiles ... 

  

  

  

         

Day 4761: The Sun Wakes Up After a Long Winter & Pacific Ocean

"Discouraged": digital photo collage.

  

Want music?

    Click: Israel Kamakawiwo`ole. 1988, I'll Remember You

2GN2S

Animated "The Sun Wakes Up After a Long Winter"

A new animation directed by Mitchell Keys taps into the feeling of elation and brightness that accompanies the first days of spring.

In northern climes, winter sometimes feels like it drags on forever. A new animation directed by Mitchell Keys taps into the feeling of elation and brightness that accompanies the first days of spring. And while his short film, “Springrise,” is only about a minute long, it traces the sun’s journey higher into the sky, as if awakening from hibernation while people rejoice.

Hothouse, an apprenticeship program facilitated by the National Film Board of Canada, invites a handful of participants to create ultra-short animated shorts every year. It aims to quickly and flexibly make animations while emphasizing creative and technical excellence, and 2025 marks its 15th edition. You can watch all of this year’s projects, plus dozens more from past cohorts, on the NFB website

You can view the 1-1/2 minute animation, here.

 

  

 

A 3+ minute video, Afternoon class, here

 

  

 

Just because ...

Shaft-tailed Whydah

 

Saturday's Smiles ... 

 

 

  

  

         

Day 4760: Sculptures Sport Kaleidoscopic Expressions & The Sociable Weaver.

"Motion": junk collage, ink.

       

  

Want music?

    Click: Daniel Powter, Bad Day

 

2GN2S

Detail of “Breathing Caprice A,” paint on Torreya, 135 x 75 x 55 centimeters.

Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s Sculptures Sport Kaleidoscopic Expressions for a ‘True Self’

Yoshitoshi Kanemaki is no stranger to human emotions, imbuing his playful sculptures with not one but several expressions all at once. The Tokyo-based artist is known for his “glitched” sculptures carved from single pieces of timber, and in his ongoing current series Prism, he continues to explore the nature of distortion, reflection, and self-consciousness. Insight Prism, the artist’s solo exhibition opening at FUMA Contemporary this month, combines two concepts the artist dovetails in his chiseled-wood compositions.

“Insight Prism,” paint on Japanese nutmeg and katsura, 170 x 72 x 67 centimeters

“The word ‘insight’ carries the meaning of seeing into the essence of things with clarity, while ‘prism’ metaphorically refers to elucidating what is complex,” Kanemaki says. Through a fragmented triangular motif, he highlights warped features that refract, separate, and reassemble—much like the ever-evolving nature of human consciousness and social interactions.

“Breathing Caprice A,” paint on Torreya, 135 x 75 x 55 centimeters

Insight Prism marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in two years, presenting the largest sculpture he’s yet created in the Prism series—the namesake of the show. Kanemaki delves into the multiple roles we all play in our daily lives, switching between different versions of ourselves to contend with different situations or environments. 

Detail of “Insight Prism”

He says: "While such shifts can be seen as a necessary social manner to keep life running smoothly, there are times when we lose the vision of our “true self.”… The idea for my new sculptures began with the question: What might the form of searching for one’s “true self” look like?"

“Reflection Prism,” paint on Torreya, 170 x 53 x 51 centimeters

“Ulala Caprice 3rd,” paint on Japanese nutmeg and camphor wood, 100 x 34 x 34 centimeters

Detail of “Ulala Caprice 3rd”

Insight Prism opens on September 12 and continues through September 27 in Tokyo. Find more on the artist’s Instagram.

 

  

 

A 6+ minute video, O.B. Donuts, here

 

  

 

Just because ...

White-crested Helmetshrike

 

Friday's Smiles ...