Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Have you noticed how effective San Francisco is at producing ways to drop out of reality through technology?

Around the time he turned 50, Jeff Bartels (previously) found himself thinking more and more about memory and nostalgia. “It occurred to me that I could remember certain things from my past exactly, while other memories were mixed up or even wrong,” he tells Colossal. “So I decided to explore that confusion.”

Bartels’s ongoing series Urban Glitch consists of five paintings so far, each focusing on different years from the recent past, ranging from 1979 to 2001. Each painstakingly detailed composition highlights pop culture of the era, from the latest cars and products to pastimes, music, and fashion.

The imaginary buildings stack on top of one another and connect via bridges, platforms, and staircases reminiscent of M.C. Escher’s mathematically puzzling architecture.

Locked in time and space, as if the scenes are “glitching,” Bartels’s thriving urban hubs invoke the sights and sounds of bygone eras. People peer into their fridges, walk their dogs, play games at the arcade, and view paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat or Damien Hirst’s seminal 1991 work of a tiger shark preserved in a tank.

The artist employs 3D modeling software to create references for each painting rather than photographic sources, so “there is a lot of work done on my computer before I even pick up a brush and being the painting,” he says. “This way, I can create realistic-looking scenes that could not exist in the real world.”

Each piece takes hundreds of hours to complete due to the meticulous process of defining each building, figure, and tiny, stage-like scene. The artist estimates “1983” took about 850 hours altogether, and while the time commitment alone makes it “easy to burn out on them…” he says, “I do plan on continuing the series with at least a few more.”

Find more on Bartels’s website and Instagram.

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 Step Into Beguiling Bygone Eras in Jeff Bartels’s ‘Urban Glitch’ Series appeared first on Colossal.

Visually simple yet conceptually unbounded, Italian illustrator Virginia Mori continues to create scenes that proliferate from her imaginative world of inner emotions. “I often take inspiration from dreams, nightmares, hallucinations, and long walks in nature,” Mori says. Rippling water, nested doorways, and liquefied lenses lend to an air of surrealism, indicative of the artist’s distinctive style.

Mori has a busy year ahead, as she is currently working on an animated short film, book illustration, and preparing for a group exhibition opening next month at Blu Gallery in Bologna. If you’re into tarot cards, the artist just designed a deck that you can find on Stay-Hop. Keep up with Mori’s upcoming works on her website and Instagram.

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 Virginia Mori’s Wistful Illustrations Tap Into Reverie appeared first on Colossal.

All images © Benjamin Sack, shared with permission

When Benjamin Sack (previously) graduated from university, he sought a new adventure. “I wanted to travel and see and draw the places that inspire my work,” he tells Colossal. One day, he inquired with Holland America Line, which led round-the-world sea voyages, to see if the company might be interested in a novel trade: in exchange for a spot on the ship, Sack would lead classes and lectures and create a large drawing. “Long story short, they loved the idea and welcomed me aboard, saying it would only happen this one year,” he says. Ten years later, he’s something of a “court artist” on a vessel called the King Neptune.

Sack is influenced by historical cartography and architectural designs, and many of his black-and-white urban renderings evoke etchings popularized in 17th-century London. The artist adds elaborate metallic borders that suggest antique gilded frames, yet the compositions swirl with a contemporary flair.

Each meticulous, large-scale piece takes its cues from places Sack travels while on board the ship. Like a sailing microcosm of a city, the vessel’s rhythms, schedule, and international denizens provide endless inspiration. “My position onboard is unique in that I’m kind of in the grey zone between passenger and crew member,” the artist says. “I have access to both worlds as it were, much like how art is in the real world, where all practices and divisions in society overlap.”

During the past two years, voyages that have inspired new work include itineraries around Africa, South America, and twice around the world. The sea itself lends a hand to Sack’s work sometimes, too, especially if traveling through rougher regions like the Drake Passage between South America’s Cape Horn and Antarctica or while the captains maneuver through changeable weather. “Most of the time, though, it’s a joy to draw with the lilt and lull of the sea,” Sack says. “She gives the page life!”

Explore more of Sack’s work on his website, and follow updates about his art-filled experiences at sea on Instagram.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Living at Sea for a Decade, Benjamin Sack’s Elaborate Drawings Cruise the World appeared first on Colossal.

“The Exoplanet Zoo.” All images © Martin Vargic, shared with permission

Not until 1992 did astronomers confirm that there were planets outside our solar system, and in the 30-plus years that have followed, researchers have discovered at least 6,660 exoplanets across nearly 4,900 systems. In his latest project, artist and author Martin Vargic turns that staggering number into a pair of striking infographics.

Utilizing a trio of public databases—The Extrasolar Planet Encyclopaedia, NASA Exoplanet Archive, and ExoKyoto—Vargic gathered information on the sizes and equilibrium temperatures of about 1,600 exoplanets, along with their possible colors. Current technology isn’t capable of discerning their exact textures and color, so he based many of his renderings on existing illustrations, the likelihood of clouds and haze, and the Sudarsky scale, which organizes planets into five categories according to the properties of their atmospheres.

“We have discovered many diverse exotic worlds such as hot Jupiters with clouds of molten rock, water worlds covered by a world-spanning unfathomably deep superocean, red-hot lava planets, or planets darker than coal,” the artist writes.

Detail of “The Exoplanet Zoo”

For “The Exoplanet Zoo,” Vargic arranged about 1,100 renderings by the amount of heat they receive from stars, creating a mesmerizing gradient of color and size for easy comparison. “Icy and Rocky Worlds” is similar, although it features approximately 900 exoplanets believed to be terrestrial like Earth.

As with any discussion of distant galaxies and the unknown possibilities within them, Vargic also addresses the question of life beyond our solar system. He says:

As the first lifeforms developed on Earth very soon after its formation, it’s likely that many planets in the habitable zone might possess at least primitive single-celled life. The longer a planet spent in the habitable zone after its formation, there is a higher likelihood of complex life on its surface… It has been calculated there are almost nine billion Earth-sized planets within their star’s habitable zone just in our own galaxy, more than one such planet for every living person!

Each poster is available in Vargic’s shop, where he shares additional detail images. It’s also worth reading his full explanation of the differences in exoplanets and taking a look at the high-resolution versions of the posters.

Detail of “The Exoplanet Zoo”

“Icy and Rocky Worlds”

Detail of “Icy and Rocky Worlds”

Detail of “Icy and Rocky Worlds”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Pair of Staggering Infographics Organizes 1,600 Planets Beyond Our Solar System by Color appeared first on Colossal.