Cool Hunting

China Design Now
A look at the creative energy in modern China, China Design Now chronicles the recent cultural rebirth brought on by a combination of global influences and the rediscovery of China's pre-Socialist traditions. Opening 15 March 2008 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the exhibit explores three cities beginning with Shenzhen, where graphic designers have been experimenting with new concepts since the 1990s....

Barnaby Barford: Private Lives
On 11 March 2008, the irreverent ceramic artist Barnaby Barford will be exhibiting a new series of subversive objects at David Gill Galleries in London. The latest collection, "Private Lives," shows Barford treading into uncharted territory, repositioning figures from pop culture and cartoons for his witty mises-en-scènes. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in 2002, Barford has been working with found ceramics...

Peter J. Evans: Feedbacker
In North London, the Seventeen gallery presents British artist Peter J. Evan's first solo exhibition, "Feedbacker," at this Hackney arthouse showcasing his precise drawings and sculptures that are always more than the sum of their parts. Evans creates intricate pieces built upon simple repetitive actions. At the centerpiece of this exhibit, scheduled to run from 5 September though 13 October, is the Waveformer which...

Saskia Olde Wolbers
by Laurice Parkin The video art of Saskia Olde Wolbers is transfixing to watch not only for the dreamlike fluidity accompanied by surreal narrative, but also to see the intensely complex handmade models that the artists films. These miniature sets combine both the architectural space and uniquely constructed parts to bring the artist's imaginative landscape to life. Unpopulated and desolate, the worlds are beautiful, strange...

Mark Andreas: Reactive Sculpture Series
After exhibiting up and down the eastern seaboard, Brooklyn-based sculptor Mark Andreas has crossed the East River to make his Manhattan debut. Andreas' Reactive Sculpture Series includes the hulking 400-pound Seed Spreader (pictured), an intimidating machine equipped with three-foot spinning blades. It brilliantly expresses the fear associated with the industrialization of mass food production that, in the words of the artist, “conceptually speaks to...

Whitney Biennial 2008
This time around we chose to cover the Whitney Biennial with help from the museum's exhibition designer, Mark Steigelman. Last week's video on Olaf Breuning included a glimpse of his Biennial installation at the Park Avenue Armory (an off-site component that's new this year) and this episode is a select survey of the works by the 50-odd artists showing at the Whitney. Mark explains the...