2026-02-21 21:15:00
For Michael Pederson, happenstances of infrastructure, nature, and the urban landscape present endless opportunities for the imagination. His playful miniatures scale the stems of weeds, reimagine gaps in walls, and reinterpret coincidences. Tiny structures and signs draw our attention to marvels of nature, like the seven-centimeter-tall “Mount Paltry,” or invite viewers into mysterious realms beyond civilization. Tapping into everyday occurrences and impressions, Pederson transforms the mundane into moments of wonder and delight.
If you’re in Seoul, see Pederson’s work in the show Room for Wonder at Groundseesaw until June 4.
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2026-02-21 04:00:00
You’ve probably heard the idiom, “the elephant in the room,” to describe when there’s some uncomfortable and obvious problem that no one is addressing—the kind of issue that feels as though it’s taking up all available space. But what if yet another megafauna came stampeding onto the scene? That’s where Berlin-based artist Itamar Gov’s large-scale installation comes in.
The Rhinoceros in the Room is a towering, inflatable sculpture that fills a medieval church nave at Kunstmuseum Magdeburg in Germany. Gov draws inspiration from Renaissance engraver Albrecht Dürer’s iconic rhinoceros woodcut, which the artist created in 1515 without having ever seen one of the animals himself. His rendering is wildly inaccurate in terms of anatomy, depicting an extra horn at the creature’s shoulders and armor instead of a thick leather hide, but thanks to the ability to replicate it in print, it captured the public’s imagination.
Dürer’s image persists as a symbol of imperial might and prestige. The animal itself represents power and vigor, and one was even gifted from Sultan Muzafar II of Gujaratm, India, to King Manuel I of Portugal in 1515, providing the inspiration for the artist’s rendering.
The rhinoceros has also been hunted and poached nearly to extinction, and several species remain critically endangered today. For The Rhinoceros in the Room, Gov “combines historical events, philosophical ideas, and local legends and questions the fragile boundaries between fact and fiction; memory and imagination,” the museum says.
Portrayed in monochrome gray, the gentle giant lumbers amid the 11th-century Romanesque colonnades, assuming a spectral guise. On one hand, it’s somewhat absurd in its sheer size and sense of being out-of-place, yet on the other, the creature invokes curiosity and wonder and stands sentry as an icon of brawn and resilience.
The Rhinoceros in the Room remains on view through July 5. Find more on Gov’s Instagram.
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2026-02-21 02:00:00
For residents of the Upper Midwest and Canada—the land of lakes—ice shanties are ubiquitous winter fixtures. From the huge temporary villages that emerge on Wisconsin’s Lake Winnebago for sturgeon-spearing season to ramshackle, hand-built huts dotting Ontario’s Lake Simcoe, these vernacular structures are designed around openings or hatches in the floors so that hardy northerners can fish through holes drilled in the ice. It’s this unique tradition, combined with artistic flair, that serves as the inspiration for Art Shanty Projects.
Every winter, the Minneapolis-based program initiates an interactive series of projects on the lima bean-shaped Lake Harriet, located a few miles southwest of downtown. Dozens of artists construct one-of-a-kind huts that the public is invited to explore and interact with over the course of four weekends.
For the 2026 season, Art Shanty Projects commissioned local artists Emily Quandahl and Madeline Cochran for a bright, inviting, collaborative shelter. Quandahl’s practice predominantly centers around painting, and Cochran takes a multimedia approach to two-dimensional work, often incorporating textiles and weaving techniques.
For their “Quilt Shanty,” the duo conceived of a vibrant, blanket-like patchwork design that transports the feeling of comfort out into the lake’s stark openness. “We wanted to take a literal approach to the ‘barn quilt‘ by stretching a tactile textile over an agricultural form—specifically a hoop house,” Quandahl tells Colossal.
A hoop house is a structure often used in gardens and agricultural settings that comprises a tunnel covered in PVC sheeting, which protects plants and can extend the growing season by a few weeks. Both artists grew up in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin and Minnesota, indelibly influenced by the region’s rural lifeways revolving around farming and deep-seated community.
“Quilt Shanty” blends Cochran’s interest in folk illustrations through muslin compositions and interactive wooden quilt-square puzzle pieces. Quandahl constructed the hoop house frame and the 9-by-16-foot quilt made of studio scraps, vinyl, and drop cloths that encompasses it. To go along with Cochran’s wooden pieces, Quandahl also designed a trifold screen that serves as a key to the puzzle.
“During our month on the ice, we found that nearly everyone who stepped into the shanty had a story to tell, whether it was about a quilt they inherited, a family member who taught them to sew, or a specific pattern that reminded them of home,” Quandahl says. “This collaboration really harkened back to the idea of a quilting bee. Historically, these weren’t just about sewing; they were social anchors for a community through communal labor.”
Explore more of both Quandahl and Cochran’s work on Instagram.
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2026-02-21 00:17:02
While balancing atop a precarious stack of bolsters and tables, a young juggler sends four bright balls up into the air. A fellow performer stands on the floor nearby, observing the skillful toss against the backdrop of a wall-mounted tent in bright, primary colors.
Veiled in a warm glow, the photo by Constanze Han offers a rare glimpse into a practice session at Escuela Nacional de Circo, Havana’s center for circus performance. “Founded after the Cuban Revolution, the school was part of a broader effort to make professional arts education accessible to young people across the island,” Han shares. “With Soviet support in the late 1970s, it blended technical rigor with Cuban creativity and style, shaping a distinct circus tradition that continues today.”
Circuses have an enduring role in Cuban culture, one that began in the 16th century “as a family-run, traveling tradition, especially in the countryside,” the photographer adds. Combined with Soviet styles following the revolution, the circus became a distinctive blend of “rumba, Cuban folklore, and Afro-Cuban influences.”
Han has worked on several projects in Cuba in the past few years, often in collaboration with her friend Karla Batte. While staying in Havana for a residency at Casa Cache, a connection from an earlier project that centered around the iconic Tropicana Nightclub introduced Han to the school.
During a week-long visit, she created Circus of a Revolution, which documents a group of ambitious, dedicated artists and offers a timely glimpse of youth culture in a country that has been experiencing a mass exodus of its youngest generations. Cuba lost nearly 20 percent of its population between 2022 and 2023 alone, and one in four residents is currently over age 60.
Han notes that amid the country’s dire economic situation, Circus of a Revolution provides an alternate look at the people defining its cultural output. Whether a posed portrait or candid snapshot, the photos echo the intimacy and focus of the performers, while capturing the beauty of creative expression and how it flourishes amid enormous difficulties.
“Because a lot of the equipment is older and manually operated, performers rely heavily on discipline, teamwork, and each other. This creates a strong sense of community, camaraderie, and mutual support within the practice,” she adds.
Han’s work has taken her around the world, from Tegucigalpa to Taipei, where she’s photographed often unseen communities and ways of life. Find more on Instagram.
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2026-02-20 05:50:26
“For me, it always starts with joy,” explains Aunia Kahn. The Detroit-based artist uses a handful of materials—gouache, pastels, pencils, and gold ink—to create rich, velvety portraits that evoke folk art patterns, surrealist themes, and celestial iconography.
Reclaiming the importance of play in the creative process has been a powerful catalyst for Kahn, who had previously experienced a loss of joy in making amid life-threatening health challenges. “That playfulness led me straight back to my roots, to growing up in Michigan and spending time in Canada, to the German and Polish folk art that filled my grandparents’ home,” she says. “I realized that world of bold color, rich pattern, and maximalist symbolism had already shaped my home, my wardrobe, and the way I moved through life. My art just needed to catch up.”
When she’s not in the studio, Kahn is busy curating exhibitions as the co-owner of Poetic Tiger Gallery and is Editor-in-Chief of Hyperlux Magazine. Find more work on the artist’s website, and keep up with her many adventures on Instagram.
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2026-02-20 02:30:28
From his monumental, meditative installation of 100 million hand-painted porcelain sunflower seeds on the floor of Turbine Hall at Tate Modern to architectural columns wrapped in 14,000 salvaged life vests worn by refugees, artist-activist Ai Weiwei has long tapped into the power of scale, repetition, and symbols to plumb cultural heritage and expose societal issues.
Ai is known for his wide-ranging practice that encompasses large-scale installations, video, architecture, photography, public art, and more. This spring, TASCHEN releases a fully revised monograph titled Ai Weiwei. Updated Edition, building upon the initial volume published a decade ago.
Originally published right after Ai left China, unsure if he’d ever be able to return due to the country’s hostility toward his critical practice, this new volume happens to coincide with the artist’s first trip home after 10 years away.
The new edition chronicles the Chinese artist’s global practice, from his time spent in New York City in the 1980s to his well-known multimedia Zodiac series to recent, architectonic LEGO compositions.
Ai Weiwei. Updated Edition is slated for release next month. Pre-order your copy on Bookshop.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article A Newly Updated Monograph Surveys Four Decades of Ai Weiwei’s Career appeared first on Colossal.