The perfect CULTURED afternoon? A summer picnic in the idyllic Rocky Mountains followed by an opportunity to bid on some curious and fascinating works of art. At its annual Recognition Dinner, Anderson Ranch Arts Center is serving up just that: a community experience supplemented by an auction full of quirky and thought-provoking pieces of sculpture, ceramics, and more.
Located in Snowmass Village, Colorado, Anderson Ranch Arts Center offers year-round programming, from artist residencies to workshops to community events such as this one. The auction features works donated by more than a dozen artists, with a focus on three-dimensional and multimedia creations that speak to the organization's focus on cross-disciplinary programming. “Pivoting off of last year’s successful ceramics-only auction, Exquisite Curiosities brings together legends in ceramics and 3D object-making alongside contemporary luminaries expanding beyond their known 2D practices into sculpture,” Philae Knight, the Chair of the Anderson Ranch Auction Committee, shared in a statement. Previews for the silent auction are running from July 4, with the event taking place on July 11.
With a unique eye for form and technique, these artists are offering up riveting pieces that will undoubtedly prompt a double take. See five artworks that are surefire showstoppers.
With her pink feathered baby bear, the Italian aritist Paola Pivi continues to do what she does best: reshape the known into something delightfully surreal. One in a series of three unique versions, Pivi’s Are You the Manager?, 2019, is a life-size bear cub sporting an unusual coat of hot pink faux feathers. Just try not to smile every time you encounter this cub in your living room. Spoiler: It's impossible.
Few artistic mediums carry as much history as clay. The Philadelphia-based artist Roberto Lugo creates large-scale ceramic vases that capture the histories of Latino and African American people in the langauge of antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. What better form to revisit and interrogate history than the vessel, which is so associated with class, status, power, storytelling, and leisure? In Get the Shotgun, from the Orange and Black series, 2023, Lugo combines the art of antiquity with stories of today.
This mirror by the Haas Brothers, a duo known for collapsing the space between art and design, provides something to look at as much as something to look into. Bubbling bronze frames the glass in The Bitter Mirrors of Petra Von Kant, 2018. The work's title references a 1972 West German New Wave film about a narcissistic woman (it takes place almost entirely in the titular character's bedroom). The vain or insecure ought to beware of this stunning piece, since you're likely to spend quite a bit more time looking in the mirror once it's on the wall.
Nacho Carbonell’s Fusing Bubble Table Lamp, 2019, is both functional object and conversation piece. The Spanish-born, Netherlands-based artist combined recycled beer glass bottles with metal welded branches, concrete, and silicone to create this eye-catching light fixture that looks as if it were plucked from a fairytale forest. Imagine it illuminating an outdoor space, blending in with its surroundings, or supplementing a modern living area, bringing warmth and nature into everyday life.
The New York-based designer Rogan Gregory’s Loe Depositor, 2022, invites comparisons to both a humanoid figure and a geological structure. The gypsum light feels organic, aligning with Gregory’s interest in intersecting ecological and biological systems. Flawless craftsmanship, plus furniture that feels like a little friend keeping you company? Now that's a match made in heaven.
