Live at Milan Design Week

Milan Design Week 2023 was rounded off on April 23, bringing together the world's top design concepts to create a feast of art and design for fashion trends. The Salone del Mobile home fair bounces back, with fashion brands' pavilions and stunning art installations.

Louis Vuitton Nomadic Furniture

2023/ Milan Design Week

Louis Vuitton - Nomadic Pavilion

Louis Vuitton Pavilion - Nomad Pavilion

During Milan Design Week, in addition to Objets Nomades, a new collection of furniture pieces from the designer's art of living collection, Louis Vuitton's annual exhibition of Nomadic architecture features French architect Marc Fornes' Nomadic Pavilion.

Marc Fornes

This engaging work of abstract architectural art stands in the heart of the historic Palazzo Serbelloni, combined with the concept of "journey's end" to coincide with the launch of Louis Vuitton's new nomadic collection.

Louis Vuitton Pavilion - Nomad Pavilion

Mark Fornes' iconic coral-shaped design looks like an underwater creature protruding from the courtyard of the Serbelloni Palace. The gleaming, ultra-thin structure consists of more than 1,600 uniquely shaped anodized aluminum panels, some as thin as 1mm. The building occupies an important position in the courtyard, forming an ample space inviting the viewer to explore freely.

Following Charlotte Perriand (2015), Matti Suuronen (2017), George Candilis (2018), Shigeru Ban (2019) Following on from last year's Nova House, Mark Fownes brought this ultra-thin nomadic pavilion to Milan Design Week. A work closely resembling The Nomad Pavilion, "The Origin of Silk" by Mark Fownes, was shown in China five years ago.

2018/ Suzhou Jinji Lake Biennale

Suzhou Center - The Origin of Silk

The 2018 Suzhou Jinji Lake Biennale invited Mark Fownes to create a public art installation "The Origin of Silk" for Fengyuan in the center of Suzhou. Adhering to the design concept of "Creation · Origin", Fownes incorporated the concept of Suzhou as the origin of silk into the large-scale installation art presented in the Suzhou Center. The device won the Grand Jury Prize in the 2019 Architizer A+Awards (Commercial-Pop-Ups & Temporary) category the following year.

The audience becomes an explorer and experiences endless fun in the installation

"When I learned that Suzhou was the birthplace of silk, I began to wonder what is the origin of silk? How can people understand it at a deeper level? Let people walk in. That's what I think. Silk comes from cocoons. I enlarged it to make the microscopic world bigger, or make people smaller when they walk in. This interactive and interesting art method will make the Biennale more attractive."

-- Marc Fornes

Mark Fownes' studio THEVERYMANY specializes in creating large-scale, site-specific structures that combine surface, support, form, and experience into a unified system. Over the past decade, Mark Fownes has pushed the limits of form, structure, and space. His work forms between the fields of art and architecture, with a special focus on the promotion and development of public art.

Fornes emphasizes that the relationship between design and people should be closely connected. His works encourage people to interact inside the works in an open, clear and highly secure form. As Fownes himself said, his works give people the impulse to explore and explore, just like going back to childhood, people do not need to consider the concept behind, but to experience with strong perception.

2023/ Suzhou Jinji Lake Biennale

Suzhou Center - Windspiel (Curved Rhombus)

This year, 2023 Suzhou Jinji Lake Biennale again hit! One of the theme exhibitions of this year's Jinji Lake Biennale, "We Are Better Off-- International Contemporary Art", is organized by Qu Art China. Together with 38 world-renowned artists, designers and art institutions from 16 countries, 177 pieces of sculpture, oil painting, manuscript and other art forms are presented.

In Phoenix Garden, Suzhou Center, we will once again bring the audience a large installation artwork -- "Windspiel (Curved Rhombus)" by Anselm Reyle, one of Germany's most outstanding contemporary artists.

The Windspiel (Curved Rhombus) is a large installation with a diameter of more than 9 meters and is the colossal field-specific work the artist has created so far. Spinning slowly through the air is an essential element of motion in dynamic art, beautiful and poetic. The dynamics of the geometric structure in the work move like waves, constantly breaking and twisting from the perfect unity, repeating itself. Between light and shadow, the sharp silver surface of the diamond sculpture spreads out, revealing a wealth of subtle changes.

Anselm Reyle

"About ten years ago, I bought a similar small object at the Christmas market in Berlin and was fascinated by the dynamics and effects of its light reflection. So this random ornament was the starting point, and by scaling it up, it was transformed into a sculpture. What attracts me here is how elements and shapes derived from the modern era are transformed into ornaments and back into art."

--Anselm Reyle

The "Windspiel" series was inspired by the geometric metal wind chimes that the artist found at the craft market, by simplifying the intricate wire forms and enlarging them tens of times. The rough texture left on the surface of the works by the round hand movements in the process of carving emphasizes their material properties.

With the successful conclusion of 2023 Milan Design Week, we are overwhelmed by the infinite creativity and extraordinary talent of the world's top designers and artists. Whether Mark Fornes' Silk Origins and Nomadic Pavilions or Anselm Rael's Windspiel (Curved Rhombus), these unique art installations allow the audience to experience the close connection between art and people while appreciating aesthetics. Art is not only aesthetic enjoyment, but also a power connected with the human heart's deep emotions, memories, and experiences.

All Images Credit to Qu Art Museum and Google

SOA Arts – Pubilc Art Sculptures for Hotels, Corporates, and More

At SOA Arts, we know how hard it can be to find the large public artwork you’re looking for. Fortunately, we have over 10 years of experience in making our clients’ interior design dreams a reality.

As a leading Chinese factory, we have everything we need to source, curate, commission, and produce exactly what you’re looking for. Get in touch and we’ll be happy to get the ball rolling.

Start your art project commissions today. 

Milan Design Week 2023

Reveal the 15 Most Anticipated Installations

In April, the global spotlight is on Milan. Milan Design Week, billed as the largest annual global event in design, kicks off this week, with design pioneers from around the world gathering in the city to form a vast networking platform for inspiration.

Milan Design Week 2023 runs from April 18 to 23, so we've rounded up the year's main visual posters, as well as 15 exhibitions, installations and more to look forward to.

One of the Much-awaited Installations at Milano Design Week 2023

26 Colorful Posters Redefining Milan Design Week

The main visual poster for 2023 Milan Design Week, designed by Milan-based creative studio Leftloft and renowned illustrator and collage artist Gio Pastori, consists of 26 brightly colored, geometric posters. One for each letter, each accompanied by an object or piece of furniture (such as A for Armchair, B for Bookcase, C for Chair, etc.) bearing its theme "Can you Speak Design?"

Among them, the letters "M" and "S" in the main vision are the most special. The letter "M" can only mean Milan, the capital of design excellence, and the "S" obviously stands for Salone (Italian for design around the world). The 26 vibrant poster designs are like a new glowing package, bringing together all the eyes of the world, opening bit by bit, as if inviting the pinnacle of global design to participate.

15 Unmissable Art Installations

Bellwethers of Design Trends

As a global model of design, Milan Design Week meets the expectations of the public with 26 colorful geometric posters, the latest trends of furniture and home design, as well as various displays of space installation and exhibition planning, proving to the world that it is the most pioneering trend in the design world, as well as the weather indicator of design trends, gathering countless possibilities of future life. Check out 15 must-see weathervane installations and exhibitions from Milan Design Week.

01 Prada Frames 2023

Prada Uses Recycled Materials

Emphasize the Relationship between Environment and Design

From the well-known luxury brand Prada from Italy, the joint studio Formafantasma will launch Prada Frames 2023 at Milan Design Week, which will follow the theme of "material change" to emphasize the complex relationship between environment and design.
Sustainability has always been Prada's focus. Prada hopes to explore the potential of design combined with original creativity through using innovative recycled materials at Milan Design Week, aiming to promote reflection on the ethical and aesthetic implications of the design industry.

02 OMG-GMO

In the Form of Fruits and Vegetables

Show the Relationship between People and the Environment

Paris-based designer Robert Stadler has launched a functional product inspired by agricultural products, featuring tea tables, floor lamps and coffee tables in the form of fruits and vegetables. The unique design shows the relationship between human beings and the environment. The collection, OMG-GMO, took two years to complete and will be presented to the public at Milan Design Week 2023.

03 Esquisses

To Present the Artist's Joy of Life

Create Matisse-inspired Pieces

Maison Matisse, from London, England, was founded by the great-grandson of famous French artist Henri Matisse and aims to present the late artist's "joie de vivre" through art and design. In keeping with this tradition, Maison Matisse invited Faye Toogood to create the legendary collaboration Esquisses for Milano Design Week 2023, which involves improvising Chinese ink on white paper instead of accordion paper, and incorporating the flow of Matisse's classic hand gesture into a soft hand-tufted wool rug. The sides of the handcrafted soft washer ring armchairs are arched like Matisse's balanced lines, creating gaps that echo the negative space in a relaxed and comfortable way.

04 Fuorisalone 2023

Design the Exhibition Space with Bright Colors

Located in One of Milan's Most Beautiful Neighborhoods

In 2016, Herzog & de Meuron designed "La Milano" for Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli -- an exhibition space reposed in one of Milan's most beautiful neighborhoods, UniFor, Viale Pasubio. It has a series of showrooms, galleries, and exhibition spaces. Here, the unique Mosaic wood floor is uniformly selected in bright colors, and the curved pattern subtly contrasts the straightness of the paneling system, making the space look peaceful.

05 Ottavia

Take Inspiration from Roman Arches

A Nod to Fendi's Heritage

Italian designer 'Ottavia' chair in Roman style for Fendi Casa is set to debut at Milan Design Week 2023. Drawing inspiration from Roman architecture, the Roman Arch, she used a circular backrest to symbolize a six-story Roman landmark dotted with 216 arches, and yellow, pink and grey velvet to highlight the texture, paying homage to the Fendi tradition.

06 Tegel

Start with the Environment and Function

Create Architectural Style Colorful Carpet Series

To coincide with Milan Design Week 2023, Pritzker Prize-winning David Chipperfield Architects (DCA) collaborated with Swedish manufacturer Kasthall to design Tegel. This is a new collection of architecturally inspired colorful carpets, designed with environment and function as the starting point. The material and spatial configuration evolved into a series of permutations, with different sizes of rugs layered in different permutations.

07 Norwegian Presence

Elaborately Nordic Home Design

Colorful, Bold, and Minimalist

The Nordic region's dedication to design and craftsmanship has long been well documented, especially in home furnishers, and has gained a worldwide reputation. The Nordic brand Norwegian Presecence has brought together 11 design studios, most from Norway, to show the world what they can do at Milano Design Week with bold and minimalist shapes, rich and neutral colors.

08 Gubi

An Exhibition Called Ten

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Beetle Chair

In the Bagni Misteriosi, the city's "bathhouse of mystery", Danish label Gubi is holding an exhibition called "Ten", which brings together 10 creative people from around the world to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the famous Beetle chair at this year's Milano Design Week.

09 Vero

Opening the First Offline Space Exhibition

Build the Relationship between the Brand and Community

In 2022, Pasquale Apollonio founded the young design brand Vero, hoping to build a trusting relationship between the brand and the community, by opening its first offline space in the heart of Milan's bustling Venezia Gate district, which will be exhibited at this year's Milano Design Week. Based on a simple home prototype, non-binding elements cover the entire floor with doormats, allowing furniture to be easily and flexibly placed on them.

10 Shaped by Water

With An Immersive Installation

Explore the Human Connection to Water

For Milan Design Week this year, Google and its design team artist Lachlan Turczan collaborated on Shaped by Water, an immersive multi-space installation that explores humanity's connection to water and uses it as a source of design inspiration.

11 Echoes of Alchemy

Arabic Local Craft

On Display at the Exhibition

Irthi, a Sharja-based organization focused on preserving and promoting the cultural heritage and local craftsmanship of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), hosts the upcoming Echoes of Alchemy exhibition.

12 Walk the Talk

Make A Path out of Sound and Light

Turn Parks into 'Live Games'

Italian studio Carlo Ratti Associati and architects Italo Rota are to create a path through the Brera Botanical Garden in central Milan made of tiles that generate sound and light. The Walk the Talk installation will be completed by game designer Blob Factory Gaming Studio for power company Eni and aims to turn the park into "live games".

13 Nothing Happens, If Nothing Happens

Rethink and Start Changing

Develop Sustainable Design Thinking

Organized by digital and physical design platform Isola, the seventh Isola Design Festival welcomes visitors during Milan Design Week on 18-23 April 2023. The exhibition's 2023 theme, "Nothing Happens, If Nothing Happens," invites designers and studios to begin the chain reaction of change, to rethink, regenerate and restore, to come together and move beyond sustainable design thinking.

14 Silent Hollows

Make the "Silent Hollow" A Reality

Pay Homage to Nature with A 3D Installation

Interior architect and designer Richard Yasmine returned to Milan Design Week to explore the mysterious path of AI-generated furniture design. The designers teamed up with 5vie Milano to bring to life "Silent Hollow", a 3D-printed installation that pays homage to mother nature and the tumultuous relationships within us.

15 Beyond the Surface

Dotted with An Underground Device

This "Immersive Dreamscape"

Architects Ellen Van Loon and Giulio Margheri of Dutch studio OMA have created an underground installation called "Immersive Dreamscape" Beyond the Surface. The exhibition is inside the Casa Maveri palace and features a multi-colored agate staircase.

Understand the Four Major Printing Methods

Another Means of Artistic Expression

It has always been said that "printing is the highest form of design and the earliest form of visual design". Indeed, long before the invention and popularization of movies, television and computers, the visual information media that people came into contact with the most were books, newspapers and periodicals, leaflets and posters that can be seen everywhere on the street -- all kinds of mundane but not ordinary printed matter.

Printing has a long history and detailed knowledge. To let readers understand and choose the right art of printing, today SOA Arts start from the temperature closely related to printing, and introduces four common printing methods (planographic printing, relief printing, intaglio printing, stencil printing),  with clear examples and easy-to-understand words, so that you can choose art printing solution appropriately and efficiently.

ONE

20℃–220℃

Four Ways of High-temperature Printing

In subtropical areas, the temperature of the printing room is kept at 23℃ to 25℃, and the relative humidity is 55%-60%. If the indoor temperature is too high or too low, or the moisture is more than 70%, the stored paper will appear curled, thus affecting the printing effect.

Planographic Printing

Planographic printing, also means offset lithography, is the most common printing technology in commercial printing, that is, using the principle of water and oil indissoluble, through the role of plate and rubber roller, text and text transfer to the substrate. This way not only reduces the wear of the printing plate, improves the speed and accuracy of printing, and also has good applicability to the substrate with different surface materials.

The graphic on the lithographic plate is obverse. In the printing process, the blank part of the plate is first coated with an even amount of water by the wetting device to form a water film to protect the blank from the ink; Then the graphic part through the inking mechanism adsorption ink, and then under the action of pressure, the ink transfer to the rubber drum, and then through the drum transfer copy to the printing material, so as to achieve the purpose of printing. Lithography is therefore also a form of indirect printing.

Villa Calea

Design Agency: ZUNDER

The Villa Calea project's clients, who were looking for the perfect location for their wedding, bought an Art Nouveau Villa in the suburbs and converted it into a venue for special events and weddings, thus creating Villa Calea.

Austrian studio ZUNDER was invited to create the image, which includes stationery and promotional materials. The lithographic design combines gold (10349C), fluorescent orange (804C) and dark blue (2747C) in Pantone color cards to make the whole design bright and unique.

Relief Printing

Relief printing originated from lithography and seals, the oldest printing method. The feature is that the graphic part is higher than the blank part, so when the printing ink device transfers ink to the printing plate evenly, only the graphic part can attach ink, the blank part will not have ink; Then the print substrate is sent to the plate and the embossing cylinder, under the action of printing pressure, the graphic part of the ink transfer to the substrate smoothly.

Because the printing pressure is relatively large, in the printing of text, lines and some more complex patterns, letterpress printing has a good expression, slightly raised impression can increase the quality of print. Relief printing ink is thick and full, color saturation, black calm, and can print rough surface substrate.

01

Antalis Promo

Design Agency: Kolory

Designers were invited to create a set of cards to promote Antalis' new 850g Cordensons Wild paper. The designer had previously used the paper for printing in different works, so he was familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of paper. In order to better show the characteristics of the paper, she chose to use relief rainbow rolling color printing.

02

German Torres

Agency: LA TRASTERÍA

Germán Torres is a crazy illustrator. His card, made with a two-color ink block, shows the transformation from human to werewolf. All other information on the card will be printed in black ink. Letterpress printing on 600g cotton paper.

Intaglio Printing

In contrast to relief printing, intaglio printing is lower than the blank part of the plate. Since the 15th century in Europe, intaglio printing has been developing from hand-carved metal plates, etched intaglio plates, mechanically engraved intaglio plates, and more recently laser engraved intaglio plates and electron beam engraved intaglio plates. Intaglio printing is stable and rich in color, can accurately reproduce color, and is not easy to copy, so it is often used for anti-counterfeiting and banknote printing.

The picture and text part of the intaglio is sunken in the zero line, and the picture and text part of the intaglio is filled with ink during printing. The ink of the blank part is scraped off by the ink scraper, and the print stock is placed between the plate and the embossed cylinder, and the ink in the depression is transferred to the substrate by pressure. The depth of the sag of the graphic part is different, the deeper part of the ink is more, the substrate ink layer is thicker after embossing, so the color is also darker; On the contrary, the place where the depression is lighter printed color is paler. So the depth of the text is determined by the depth of the intaglio.

Etching NYC from the Top of the Rock

Designer: Juan Santiago Sierra Salas

The work is based on photographs taken by the Artist at Rockefeller Center in New York, where he tries to reflect the vast amount of detail in each tower, showing how they form unique patterns that allow the viewer to imagine the many stories that will take place within them. The author chose intaglio printing because it is the only way to control fine lines and tiny windows. In addition, the artist can also measure the plate thickness and acid corrosion time to study the depth of intaglio engraving line.

Stencil Printing

Stencil printing is a kind of lithographic printing, the name comes from screen printing plate. Stencil printing mesh is not necessary to use silky cloth. Other such as cotton mesh, metal mesh can be used. Nowadays, most silk fabrics made of chemical fibers are more durable than silk screens, so stencil printing is also called "silk screen printing" or "screen printing" for short. Principles of screen printing are very simple, the blank part of the screen hole, leaving text part. When printing, the plate is fixed on the print substrate, the scraper is used to scrape and press, and the ink is transferred to the substrate through the mesh of the graphic part.

Screen printing equipment is simple, easy to operate, printing carrier is more extensive than the other three kinds of printing, in addition to general paper, other materials, like plastic products, metal, cloth, leather and glass and can also be used for screen printing. The printing stocks can be hard, soft, flat, curved spheres, concave and convex surface, etc.

01

Ding You | Year of the Rooster Card

Designer: Tang Shixian

In the second half of 2016, the designer started as a freelance designer. During this period, he received support and help from many predecessors, friends and manufacturers successively, which moved him very much. So before 2017, he created these two cards, both made of circular proportions and printed in small quantities in screen and letterpress, to give to friends as a thank you.

02

Only You Can Take Me to the West

Printing agency: Ink 'chacha

This picture album is mainly about Hong Kong films from the 1980s and 1990s, and many of its brilliant dialogue and memorable characters have become classics. The humorous Cantonese lines in the subtitles are the inspiration for the book. The texture of Risograph and dislocation printing coincide with the sense of nostalgia of the picture book so that the content can be better visually demonstrated. A small animated painting in the booklet is made of Japanese advertising paper, and the translucent material gives a cinematic feel when you flip through it.

TWO

These Printing Troubles

It Happens to 99% of Designers

It is one thing to know the printing theory, but quite another to be familiar with the printing operation. Even if you can recite printing knowledge backwards, there is no guarantee that you won't "flip over" in the interlocking printing process. Moreover, printing materials and techniques are constantly updated, and inspiration is continually tapping on the ceiling of creativity. You can't hold down the hand that wants to experiment with printing. Therefore, the sharing of printing experience is very important in the design of printing works, especially the warning signs erected by predecessors on the accident-prone road sections and the adventure guide of extreme scenery.

We collected designers and print experts worldwide for their print stories and mishaps, from how printing helped them realize their design ideas, to the "pits" and valuable lessons they learned from their printing practices to their vision for the future of printing.

01

Ruger Paulusse (Netherlands)

https://rutger.bingo/

Rutger Paulusse is a Dutch visual artist who experiments with geometric shapes, soft textures, light and space to create surreal and interesting universes. The results become the brand's digital art, as well as paintings, sculptures and screen prints.

"It's important for me to find beauty in imperfection. All my digital work is "perfect" in a way because I can polish it all the time. I really enjoy this refinement process, but sometimes it can go too far and make me miss the spontaneity of digital creation. When it comes to screen printing, although I want to be "perfect", I also need to accept imperfections at all times, because in the complicated printing process, there will be all kinds of small mistakes. It was a fun experience, and I learned a lot from the process of choosing between imperfections."

02

Meng Xin (China)

http://www.related.design/

Meng Xin is the founder of the design department of graphic design studio. Founded in 2017 in Shanghai, the studio focuses on the creation of images and texts in the post-web and post-colonial design context. In 2018, it established Page Bureau, a self-publishing department, and est.dept East in New York in 2022.

"In the printing process, all kinds of accidents have occurred: the color difference of the non-coated paper machine, the browsing problems caused by the binding method, the special ink in the rainy season did not dry, after cutting rough edges and so on. Of course, you'll find some design strategies and practices that are more fault tolerant, but there's no one-size-fits-all solution.

In addition, we often try to do some unconventional processing on the details, so the proofing can not fully predict all kinds of problems that may occur in mass goods, but we still have to consider the printing cost and equipment limitations. The proof-making stage is like disassembling the limbs and viscera of a book from the perspective of anatomy, anticipating all kinds of symptoms that may arise from mass production, and then addressing them accordingly. Only in this way can the proofing results have enough reference value."

03

Seok Yun-seong (Korea)

sukyoony.com

Seok Yun-seong is the founder of South Korean design studio Mohsgraphic. The studio has been working on award-winning book design and graphic design. Its brand mohs conveys the joy of natural expression through natural colors and graphics.

"We once produced a book with more than 1,000 pages, but we didn't consider that glue would affect the book's thickness during binding, which resulted in an ill-fitting spine design. When the color foil is pressed on the paper, the clarity of the content varies according to the color, and sometimes there will be color differences, so the completion of some print designs is poor, such as the cover of the MOHS540 pink coil book."

04

Alexandre Scheiz (France)

www.editionsdulivre.com/en

Alexandre Chaize, a French publisher who founded Éditions du livre , publishes artists' books for children that incorporate geometry, color, and a minimalist aesthetic, with the idea that "the form is the content."

"Éditions du livre 's books are always challenging for printing houses, because we ask them to do extraordinary things. For "Bloom," for example, they didn't know how to use an offset press to print two layers of white at first, and the book ended up needing to be reprinted.

In turn, technical constraints affect the final form of the book. Fanette Mellier, for example, wanted to use the laminating process for "Au soleil," but instead of protecting the cover, she wanted each sun to reflect on the opposite laminating page. Sadly, the idea didn't work out because the paper crumpled, making the book look like a tile. We had to adjust the design to take into account the technical limitations."

SOA Arts – Custom Art Prints on Demand

At SOA Arts we offer the service for custom canvas prints on demand. Our factory in China has everything we need to help create, source, and commission the pieces you need for your business.

Whether you’re interested in something from our catalog or need specific guidance for your interior design or any project, we’re here to help.

Get in touch today! 

Tony Cragg Sculpture Series

‘Art shows us who we are and where we stand. Ultimately all art, no matter how abstract, revolves around and relates to the human figure and human nature.’

Tony Cragg

b.1949 Liverpool, UK

Tony Cragg is a British sculptor living in Germany. He is one of the most important sculptors in the world. His sculptures constantly strive to find new connections between man and the physical world, and the materials he uses have no limits, creating endless possibilities for conceiving his unique ideas or forms.

Sculptural Murals

Tony Cragg’s sculptural murals can be seen as a large patchwork of sculptures made from ready-made pieces. The walls are composed of seemingly random patterns, with various flat shapes and fragments of different materials partially painted white. But unlike paintings, the subject matter of these sculptural collage paintings is not expressed through the application of color or the change of shape, but through the color and texture of materials.

Dining Motions

The sculptural mural, "Dining Motions"(1982), by Tony Cragg

One of his collages, Dining Motions (1982), is a wall sculpture in which we can see the artist’s concern for our daily lives.

Group show “Stage of Being”

This kind of capture of the enjoyment of food not only shows us the pleasant state in the process of eating, but also reveals the cultural connotation of the time and place. Forks, sausages, knives and plates are presented in abstract forms, interacting with each other in a coherent and changing pattern and tone, in such a way that the artist creates a harmonious atmosphere. Cragg’s sculptures are characterized by a variety of materials that can be carriers of meaning, ideas and emotions for the artist.

Speaking of thoughts and emotions, Cragg puts his own feelings into each of the wall sculptures he uses to make him.

New Figuration

New Figuration (1985), Tony Cragg. 

The work, New Figuration (1985), is laid out at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and represents the artist’s fifty years of continuous pursuit of art. As he said, he had always dreamed of flying into the sky as a child, and had many whimsical ideas in his mind. He planned to repackage the world with wonderful colors and rich, varied everyday objects. Like the little man on the wall, he dreamed of navigating the art world and decided to explore the nature of the material world.

Thus, the richly colored sculptural patchwork becomes a memory point in his art, and we can also see his own image in other works.

Britain Seen from the North

“Britain Seen from the North” (1981), Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg wrote the work, Britain Seen from the North, during a visit to the UK in 1981, when he felt the country was Mired in social and economic difficulties. The figure on the left is a portrait of himself put together by the artist. Because Craig lives in Germany, in the north of England. As a foreigner, he always cares about his motherland. He hopes that his art works can reveal some problems about his motherland from the perspective of “outsiders”.

The Possibilities of Materials 

For Tony Cragg, a sculptural patchwork usually comprises many individual objects arranged to form a larger image. His work has thus been described as representing “the relationship between the part and the whole,” an idea derived from particle physics.

Tony Cragg Sculpture Series

His works combine physics and aesthetics invisibly, creating a unique abstract style that can only be interpreted through the dynamic arcs of his sculptures and the structures they represent.

Tony Cragg Sculpture Series

The idea of exploring the essence of things leads artists to explore constantly on the way of sculpture.

For centuries, the logocentric meta-narrative has guided our search for certainty in the world. However, the discovery of the quantum world takes us in another direction - the world is amorphous. In fact, change highlights the nature of atomic particles, whose trajectories are constantly changing regardless of time and space constraints. In this way, the essence of the world we live in (the world made up of atomic particles) is the state of change.

Historic interiors of Houghton Hall in Norfolk

When such a constantly changing world enters the realm of art, sculpture seems to be the best way to plot atomic trajectories, capturing the ephemeral and spontaneous dynamics of things in space and time, but at the same time "engraving" the dynamics. For sculptors like Tony Cragg, hunting the variable shapes formed by different trajectories is key to entering the quantum world.

Therefore, every line and curl should be measured, and every point and shape should be anchored. It is a process that requires skill and care, and can only be performed by vetern sculptors.

Tony Cragg Sculpture Series

In the early 1980s, Cragg gradually moved from a patchwork of sculptures to the study of individual objects. This was the beginning of his involvement and experimentation with the properties and possibilities of a variety of more permanent materials such as wood, plaster, stone, fiberglass, Kevlar, stainless steel, cast iron and bronze.

Outspan (2008), Tony Cragg. Courtesy of YSP. Photo: Charles Dupra

As he put it:

“Sculpture is an amazing and curious subject with endless possibilities. Sculpture is the study of the whole physical world. It’s about studying how materials are formed, presented, and used.”

His early work form series examined the possibilities of everyday, familiar containers transforming and the ways in which they change and encircle each other in space. The outline of these sculptures comes from the shape of the object itself. Examples include chemical containers, plastic bottles and mortars. The surfaces of these initial objects are artistically extended and distorted until new, sculptural and independent forms of movement emerge.

“Points of view” in museum Beledere 2021

Later sculptures are more about the abstract expression and study of the changes and shapes of objects, and about the essence of objects.

Tony Cragg is constantly eager to break the boundaries of sculptural forms, and the energy generated by these forms is an important source of creating a “new view” of sculpture. His sculptures overturn our ideas of the world again and again. When we see his sculptures, our ideas of art are constantly growing in the integration, search and positioning with the world.

SOA Arts – Custom Sculptures for Corporates, Hotels, and More

At SOA Arts, we know how hard it can be to find the public sculpture you’re looking for. Fortunately, we have over 10 years of experience in making our clients’ interior design dreams a reality.

As a leading Chinese factory, we have everything we need to source, curate, commission, and produce exactly what you’re looking for. Get in touch and we’ll be happy to get the ball rolling.

Start your art project commission today. 

All images via google, credits to museums

“ I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

-- Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 170 years ago.

Van Gogh, a pioneer of expressionism, profoundly influenced 20th-century art, including brutalism. His best-known works, such as Sunflowers, Starry Night and Wheatfield with Crows, are among the most widely read artworks in the world. It was not just his art, but his turbulent, passionate and deranged life that captured the popular imagination and made Van Gogh an influential cultural icon.

Although Van Gogh’s painting career lasted only 10 years, he was an extremely prolific painter, producing more than 2,000 works. From the joy of Gauguin’s friendship, to the ear cutting after a nervous breakdown; From the bedroom in the “Yellow House” to the “Starry Night” seen through the window of the mental hospital; From the starry Rhone River to the wheat fields and heat waves of Provence, these works follow the artist’s footsteps through the Netherlands, Belgium, Paris and the south of France; They are the product of inspiration, passion, ambition and illusion, and they are the notes of Van Gogh’s life.

Today, these works are scattered around the world in museums and galleries, from Van Gogh’s most extensive collection to world-renowned cultural institutions such as the Musee d’ Orsay, the National Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum. The Van Gogh collections are often the most popular exhibits at these venues; Sometimes, they are the destination of the trip themselves.

Here’s a look at van Gogh’s original work. Seeing these works on the occasion of the 170th anniversary of Van Gogh’s birth is, in itself, the best tribute to this great artist.

Van Gogh Museum

Amsterdam, Netherland

This is the most extensive collection of van Gogh museums in the world. The center of Van Gogh’s legacy, the Van Gogh Museum is filled with important works from the artist’s life, including the “Yellow House,” which depicts Van Gogh living and working in Arles, “Almond Blossom,” which was presented as a gift to his brother Theo and his wife, and “Wheatfield with Crows”, one of Van Gogh’s most famous posthumous paintings.

01

The Potato Eaters 1885

This is a relatively early work by Van Gogh, and its style is a far cry from the brilliant, saturated colors Van Gogh would later present in paintings like Starry Night and Sunflowers.

The work continues Van Gogh’s interest in capturing the harsh realities of peasant life. Five peasants are depicted eating together in dim light, each with rough faces and scrawny, labored hands, details the artist uses to show that the peasants “cultivated the land themselves with these hands... They earn their food honestly.”

Van Gogh was so pleased with the painting that he thought the message of the picture was more important than correct anatomical knowledge or technical perfection. However, the piece drew considerable criticism at the time, because of its dark color and the fact that the figures were full of mistakes. But now, “The Potato Eaters” has become one of Van Gogh’s most famous works.

02

Sunflowers 1889

Van Gogh painted one of his most famous paintings, a series of Sunflowers, while living in Arles, southern France, between 1888-1889.

Van Gogh painted a total of seven sunflowers, each depicting a sunflower in a vase, and used only three shades of yellow, “nothing else.” In this way, Van Gogh proved that images of a single color with many variations could be achieved without losing any texture.

These sunflowers had a special meaning for Van Gogh. They convey “gratitude,” he once wrote. He hung the first two in the Sunflower series in the room of his friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin. Gauguin was so impressed by the paintings that he thought it was “totally Vincent”.

03

The Yellow House (The Street) 1888

After living in Nienen, Antwerp, and Paris, Van Gogh moved to Arles, a quiet town in the south of France, in 1888. Van Gogh spent fourteen months in Arles. He had hoped to set up a shared studio here where like-minded painters could live and work together. To realize this dream, in May 1888, he rented four rooms in a two-story house on Place Lamartine that would become known as the Yellow House.

The work, which Van Gogh himself called “The Street,” documents the surroundings of the “Yellow House”: he often dined in the restaurant on the left, and the home of his friend, postman Joseph Rulin, was just behind the second railway bridge. The green shutters are where he lived.

Unfortunately, the Yellow House had been destroyed during World War II. But thank God we still have this painting: Thanks to Van Gogh’s brushstrokes, this charming residence has been “immortalized.”

04

The Bedroom 1888

While living in the Yellow House, Van Gogh found plenty of artistic inspiration in an unlikely place: his bedroom.

Van Gogh painted the subject three times, each time paying special attention to color. After completing the first version, now in the Van Gogh Museum, he wrote this description of color in a letter to his brother Theo:

“I painted the walls lavender. Wooden beds and chairs, yellow as fresh butter; Sheets and pillows, lemon light green. Bedspread, scarlet. Window, green. Wash basin, orange; Fish tank, blue. Door, lavender. And that’s it. ... I’m not painting any kind of shadow or shadow; I just use simple plain colors, like those in crepe.”

Notably, the painting does not appear to use perspective accurately, but this is a deliberate result of Van Gogh’s decision. He told Theo in the letter that he had deliberately “flattened” the interior and removed shadows so that it would resemble Japanese prints. Van Gogh was very pleased with the painting: “When I saw my canvas again after my illness, it seemed to me that the best was the Bedroom.”

05

Almond Blossom 1890

The large flower branches against the blue sky have always been one of Van Gogh’s favorite subjects. “Almond Blossom” is another example of Van Gogh’s borrowing from Japanese prints, including themes, bold silhouettes and the positioning of trees in the picture.

Almond trees always bloom early in spring, making them symbols of new life, which is why “Almond Blossom” was originally painted: it was a gift from Van Gogh to Theo and his wife when their son Vincent Wilhelm was born. In a letter announcing the new baby, Theo wrote to Van Gogh: “As we have told you, we will name him after you, and I hope he will be as determined and brave as you.”

06

Wheatfield with Crows 1890

It is one of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings and one of the last he completed in the latter years of his life. In May 1890, he left the asylum and moved to Auville-sur-Oise, a suburb of Paris. The town’s wheat fields form the subject of the painting and are the setting for his self-ending: on July 27 of that year, he shot himself in the field.

The artist’s personal tragedy also renders the painting a intense tragic color: the sinister sky, the crows and the dead-end tanaka path are all interpreted as some kind of destiny. Van Gogh really wanted this stormy field of wheat to express “sadness, extreme loneliness” when he painted it. But at the same time, he wanted to show “the health and robustness of the countryside.”

KRÖLLER-MÜLLER MUSEUM

Otero, Netherland

Van Gogh worked as an art dealer until he was 28, when he didn’t really start painting. Some of the artist’s earliest works hang in the Kroller-Muller Museum, including “Still Life with Yellow Straw Hat 1881,” which dates from late 1881; this makes it one of the three “earliest Van Gogh paintings.” In addition, the Kroller-Muller Museum boasts the second-largest collection of Van Gogh’s works in the world.

Café Terrace at Night 1888

Many of Van Gogh’s best-known works were completed during his time at the Yellow House in Arles, including Café Terrace at Night.

This painting captures a late summer evening at Place du Forum, Arles’ vibrant public square. It was done in the open air, in the square. In a letter to his brother Theo, Van Gogh explained his method following:

“I really enjoy painting live at night. They used to paint and then paint what they had painted during the day. But I found it suited me to just draw things. ... It’s the only way to get out of the traditional dark night, with its weak, pale, white light.”

Musée d'Orsay

Paris, France

While living in Arles, Van Gogh entered a period of relative productivity, and many of his much-loved works are now housed at the Musee d’ Orsay, including the evocative landscape “Starry Night Over the Rhone” and a scaled-down version of “The Bedroom in Arles,” “Portrait of Dr. Gachet,” as well as the artist’s most iconic self-portrait.

01

Starry Night Over the Rhone 1888

Van Gogh painted “Starry Night Over the Rhone” less than a month after completing “Café Terrace at Night”. Again, this is an outdoor painting, but not in the bustling city center, but on the Rhone River. From here he could see gas lamps on the water, echoing the starry night scene.

“Starry Night Over the Rhone” similarly shows Van Gogh’s intrinsic interest in color: from the aquamarine sky to the Burgundy ground, bright hues and vibrant touching enliven the scene. Still, the picture is unusually calm, a far cry from the famous Starry Night he painted the following year.

02

Self-Portrait 1889

Like Rembrandt and Goya, Van Gogh often used himself as a model. He produced forty-three self-portraits in ten years. He looked at himself critically in the mirror while searching for a deeper similarity than a photographer could achieve. He once told his brother Theo: “People say it’s hard to know yourself. But drawing yourself is not easy either. Rembrandt’s portraits are not just landscapes, they are Revelations.

In this Self-portrait, Van Gogh is dressed in a suit rather than the tweed jacket he normally wore at work. He draws the viewer’s attention to the face of the portrait: the features are hard and thin, and the green-framed eyes seem stubborn and anxious.

The main color scheme is a blend of vermouth green and light turquoise, which complement the fiery orange of the beard and hair. The model is still, in contrast to the undulating hair and beard, and further reverberates against the vining, hallucinatory background.

03

Portrait of Dr. Gachet 1890

“I would love to make portraits that a hundred years from now will look like ghosts to those who see them.” -- Vincent Van Gogh

The portrait, completed a month before Van Gogh died, shows Dr. Paul Gachet, who cared for Van Gogh after he was admitted to the hospital. The two men became close friends during this doctor-patient relationship. In the image, the doctor jumps out of the deep blue background of the painting, clutching a foxglove and showing signs of fatigue.

In fact, Van Gogh’s first impression of the doctor was not good. He wrote in a letter to Theo: “I don’t think we can count on Dr. Gachet at all. First of all, he’s sicker than I am. When a blind man leads a blind man, don’t they all fall into the ditch?”

But just two days later, Van Gogh’s attitude toward the doctor changed. “I have found a true friend in Dr. Gachet, like another brother, and we are very similar in body and spirit,” he told his sister.

The National Gallery

London, UK

The National Gallery, reposed in Trafalgar Square in London, has only about 2,300 paintings in its collection, but it includes such famous Western masters as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Turner, Constable, Cezanne and Monet. Van Gogh’s paintings alone take up half the room, and they make the National Gallery one of the largest collections of Van Gogh’s work.

The Sunflowers 1888

Remember Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers,” which was splashed over Heinz tomato soup last year by environmentalists who Just Stop Oil? It’s in the National Gallery. It is also one of the museum’s most popular works.

The painting was painted during a rare period of optimism in Van Gogh’s life. Van Gogh moved to Arles, in the south of France, expecting avant-garde artist Paul Gauguin to join his group, The Yellow House, as a mentor.

Sunflowers were also one of Van Gogh’s favorite themes, and he created seven different versions. One of the most recognized works in the series, in the National Gallery, Van Gogh paints the dividing line between the table and the background a turquoise hue, and the flower stems and stamens a more vibrant green hue.

The Courtauld Gallery

London, UK

The Courtauld Gallery on the banks of the Thames has one of the largest collections of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works in the world. It is a collection of authentic works by famous artists covering Manet, Cezanne and Degas, including a self-portrait painted by Van Gogh after his ear was cut off.

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear 1889

Van Gogh painted the portrait a week after he was released from the hospital. Just a few weeks earlier, he had had a heated argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, who lived in the Yellow House, which resulted in him cutting off almost his entire left ear.

The painting shows Van Gogh wearing a newly purchased fur, partly to protect him from the cold, but also to keep the thick bandage on his head in place. Despite its tragic background, the painting is a powerful testament to Van Gogh’s determination to continue painting. This is reinforced by the objects in the background, all of which are symbolic: the canvas on the easel, and Japanese prints, the latter of which are an important source of inspiration. Above all, Van Gogh showed in this work his powerful handling of color and brush strokes, which is a statement of his ambition as a painter.

MoMA, Museum of Modern Art

New York, USA

The Starry Night 1889

Van Gogh suffered from mental problems for much of his life. After a series of unfortunate events in the late 1880s, notably the infamous ear mutilation, he voluntarily checked himself into the psychiatric hospital of St. Paul de Mossur in St. Remy, southern France, in 1889, where he spent 12 months.

Van Gogh was astonishingly prolific during this time: he completed 150 paintings, including “Starry Night”, an image of the night sky through the “bars” of his hospital room, based on a view of Saint Remy. In this painting, Van Gogh gives the night and nature an emotional language that takes them away from what they really are. Today, “Starry Night” is considered one of the most recognizable works of Western art. It has been at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York since 1941, and continues to be loved by visitors.

The Met, Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York, USA

Wheat Fields with Cypresses 1889

“Wheat Fields with Cypresses” was written around the same time as “Starry Night,” and both share the same signature wavy brushwork technique. The work, considered by Van Gogh to be one of his “finest” summer landscapes, depicts ripe wheat fields of gold, with dark Provencal cypress trees rising like obelisks on the right; White clouds whirled furiously in a clear blue sky “like a piece of tartan.” Together with the wheat fields below, they reveal the heat of the day.

Happy birthday, Mr. Van Gogh