The artist Sho Shibuya began during the past summer a visual archive of the day’s sunrise by painting vibrant gradients in their likeness over the cover of The New York Times. The smooth, colorful transitions literally masked the daily headlines, offering a reprieve from the news and establishing a morning ritual that the Brooklyn-based artist, who’s also behind the design studio Placeholder, continues today.
Left: “EVERGREEN,” Monday, March 29, 2021. Right: “SUPER BLOOD MOON,” Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.
Alongside those subtle sunrises, though, Shibuya also has started interpreting some of the day’s events through mixed-media works that similarly block out the articles. Two bandaids adhere to a peach cover, for example, marking widespread COVID-19 vaccinations. Bands of silver and gold splice another piece, which is also overlaid with a shattered mirror that reflects on Daft Punk breaking up after 28 years. No matter how heavy the topic, each of the pieces, Shibuya says, is intended as a visual aid that inspires hope and optimism. “I want to create peace through my work sharing my sympathy and emotion,” he tells Colossal, explaining:
“DAFT PUNK,” Monday, February 22, 2021. All images © Sho Shibuya
I believed simple color and shape have power to influence emotions, and emotions influence actions. It is important to get the facts and understand the news, but I think my work is meant to make people feel the impact of the world beyond just facts and figures. It is similar to the way The New York Times printed all 100,000 names of the people who died from COVID; art can be a more impactful way of communicating the significance of the news.
Shibuya’s newspapers are on view through January 23, 2022, as part of E/MOTION, a group show at MoMu in Antwerp, and you can keep up with his daily practice on Instagram.
“MARS,” Thursday, February 18, 2021“CALIFORNIA,” Wednesday, September 9, 2020
“MARIJUANA,” Wednesday, March 31, 2021
credits: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/06/sho-shibuya-newspapers/
Source: feeldesain