You don’t need us to tell you, but contemporary art comes in all shapes, sizes and materials; that much is true. Yet you’d agree that for the most part – and irrespective of what form and function it takes – said art remains in a physical sense for an infinite passage of time. Unless of course your name’s ‘The KLF’ and you set about destroying all visual evidence of your art installation not long after you’d competed your modern day masterpiece. And then there’s those Japanese creative types who – if they haven’t already as we pen this, soon will – watch as their stunningly quirky three-dimensional creations disappear before their very eyes. But then, that’s the ultimate price you pay (as an ice artist will tell you) when you choose to craft your piece from one of Mother Nature’s most transient canvases; namely snow.
Yes, forget all about contemporary art, as we’re talking about strictly temporary art in this latest instance, as we share some extraordinary images first revealed by www.bbc.co.uk recently, which presented much pause for thought. Or to be more graphically precise, paws for thought; when considering that many of impromptu exhibits comprise of animal-esque limbs sculpted from snow, including those belonging to giant pandas and hugely popular fictional characters, Hello Kitty and Godzilla. Along with universally-recognised cartoon dog, Snoopy, and various Pokemon creations.
And the reason behind this sudden surge in uber impressive snow sculpting we’re highlighting here? Simple, that’ll be thanks to the unprecedented snowfall that certain parts of Japan has experienced in the early weeks of 2018. Described by experts as the heaviest snowfall seen in some four years, many artistically-inspired Tokyo residents have chosen to brave -4 degree Celsius temperatures outside in order to manifest these incredible ice-packed likenesses of some of their favourite fictional characters. Putting an entirely different popular culture spin on the traditional snowman spectacle we all know and love, an array of truly remarkable iterations popped-up throughout the suburbs of the sprawling metropolis.
Japanese Winter Artists Snow Best….
Indeed, not a single chunk of coal (to resemble eyes) or carrot (re: nose) in sight on these imperious snow sculptures, but rather meticulously designed and executed icy variations on notable Star Wars, Pokemon and other movie and video game themes. Plus some Minions, for reasons only known to the artists themselves…….
Here at Chelmer, while we can’t necessarily promise snow sculptures (mainly for logistic/time-sensitive reasons – lol!), we are in possession of a huge volume of more enduring (both physically and theme-wise) three-dimensional limited edition works of art, courtesy of some of the UK’s most prominent and best-loved contemporary sculpture artists. Among our broad portfolio of critically acclaimed practitioners you’ll find the eclectic likes of Doug Hyde, Ed Rust, Lorenzo Quinn, Rebecca Lardner, Matt Buckley, Jennine Parker and Nic Joly, to namecheck but a handful.