Art
Artsy Editorial
“The Art We’re Obsessed With” is a new monthly series paying homage to the artworks Artsy staff members can’t stop thinking about, and why. From little-known artists our editors stumble across at local shows to artworks going viral on our platform, these are the artworks we’re obsessed with this month.
Sonia Jia, Echoing Melody, 2023
Every time I encounter one of Sonia Jia’s intriguing paintings—which are popping up all over my feeds—it feels like entering an archeological site. Rendered in somber pinks, purples, and beiges, her canvases seem to be scrubbed by sediment, like cave drawings worn down to echoes of their century-old selves.
The coral-hued Echoing Melody (2023) is a bit brighter, in color if not in subject: Like some of Jia’s other works, it grapples with themes of sexual violence. The painting’s weathered contours suggest a row of seated girls, a composition inspired by a scene from the 2016 South Korean film Spirits’ Homecoming, which centers on so-called “comfort women” enslaved by the Japanese imperial army in the 1930s and ’40s. Trauma may fade, Jia’s painting seems to suggest, but it never fully disappears.
—Olivia Horn, Associate Managing Editor
Sam Francis, Untitled (SF74-789), 1974–76
This unusual watercolor and graphite work by the American Abstract Expressionist artist Sam Francis immediately grabbed my attention with its intense chartreuse hue and enigmatic symbolic imagery—a mystery that I immediately set out to decode.
Though Francis is remembered for his splashy canvases and prints that make poignant use of negative space, the artist also occasionally created self-portraits that explored his interior worlds. Francis’s lifelong interest in Jungian psychology (which unites the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind) is evident in Untitled (SF74-789), whose subject peers out through seven inner eyes at three sketched figures: a hare, a soaring bird, and perhaps the artist himself, gazing right back.
—Jordan Huelskamp, Curatorial Lead
I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of art and the internet through digital mediums, so this NFT video by Cinthia Sifa Mulanga stood out to me. The Congolese artist’s signature elements—beautiful interiors, fashionable garments, and luxurious decorative objects—are seamlessly woven together in this multimedia piece. Motion sequences breathe life into the playful diptych, as honey oozes from a jar, a fire flickers in the corner, and covetous hands snatch objects from the room.
In the age of micro-trends, from “clean girl” to “mob wife” chic, Mulanga explores themes of indulgence, highlighting the shifting dynamic between consumer and product. Through a silver spoon submerged in a bathtub, Mulanga evokes the image of taking a bite, cleverly unveiling the spectacle of contemporary consumerism.
—Adeola Gay, Curatorial Manager
Samantha Thomas, There’s Always Light in the Dark, 2023–24
On a visit to Samantha Thomas’s Los Angeles studio last month, I got a sneak peek at her new body of work—a series of paintings that are wonderfully joyful. In fact, the delightfully refreshing works squash any qualms about the conceptual depth of happy art.
Thomas intends these works, which are currently on view in her solo show “Chromoception” at Anat Ebgi, to be read as paintings, but they’re actually made by painstakingly weaving embroidery thread into canvas. Thomas concocted this method by almost turning her canvases into looms. She draws on her longstanding interest in Arte Povera, though the pieces also recall the work of Anni Albers and ancient Andean weaving traditions. The works resemble sliced-up sunsets or otherworldly landscapes—the rainbow mountains of Vinicunca, Peru, were an inspiration. This particular work is a prime example, relishing in the rush of bold color and the calm of crisp canvas.
—Casey Lesser, Editor in Chief & Director of Content
Henri Jean Guillaume Martin, Tonnelle nord-ouest au Parc de Marquayrol (La Pergola), ca. 1925
It might be because the weather is still blustery at the moment, but this balmy scene from French Post-Impressionist artist Henri Jean Guillaume Martin stopped me in my tracks amid the buzzing halls of TEFAF Maastricht earlier this month. Exhibited by New Orleans gallery M.S. Rau, this hillside scene depicts the artist’s 17th-century estate in southwest France (you can still visit the gardens today) and exudes luxuriant peace. From the untamed flowers to the golden fruit bowl, it made me pine for sunnier times.
—Arun Kakar, Market Editor
Kyungah Ham, Stories with Toppings, Colorful Lies 1, Detail From SMS Series 06, 2017
Kyungah Ham’s abstract embroidery works are fascinating aesthetically, but they’re even more interesting when you know the story behind them. The artist sends a blueprint for the textiles from South Korea, where she is based, to North Korean craftspeople, who occasionally have to alter her instructions due to their nation’s censorship. This process introduces some additional items to the official list of materials that accompanies Stories with Toppings, Colorful Lies 1, Detail From SMS Series 06 (2017)—alongside silk threads, the work is purportedly made of “middle man” and “secret code” as well as “anxiety, tension, ideology.”
Abstract textile works have been having a major museum moment internationally, and this kaleidoscopic, dizzying work reminds me of Magic Eye images, the pattern behind the chaos just out of reach.
—Josie Thaddeus-Johns, Editor
Artsy Editorial
