Jim Rose spent his artistic life cultivating the mind of a maker. He absorbed the practices of Ming and Shaker furniture makers, not just through study, but through the physical creation of objects that carry their influence. Instead of traditional carved wood, he used hot-rolled and reclaimed steel — coaxing the material into clean-lined forms. […]

The work of Chicago-based artist Michael Thompson defies even the most ardent attempts at classification. He’s the kind of creative whose technique, spirit, provocation and form is always cut with a little mischief. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Michael Thompson’s body of work spans across a range of art […]

Born in the Netherlands in 1979, Jan Pieter Fokkens is part of the last generation to have an analog childhood. His abstract art examines the effects that advancing technologies have had on our understanding of the universe and our place within it. In his work, Fokkens’ hand-paints and draws intricate, color saturated patterns inspired by […]

Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1962, Patrick Fitzgerald grew up in an industrial Midwestern landscape. “It was loud, daunting and dirty,” he says, “yet it possessed a powerful beauty that is still so vivid.” As a child, he scavenged for junk and enjoyed tinkering with mechanical parts. He loved cars: “I always enjoyed the […]

Almudena Rodriguez’s paintings have long been PAGODA RED favorites — in part, because each is a rich, imagery-laden universe filled with evocative meanings. In her work, preconceived boundaries evaporate and a riotous blend of pop culture graphics, multilingual vocabulary, religious iconography and myth emerges. A disaffected couple embrace as an acrobat soars past, a lone […]

We love how the disciplines of art, architecture, music, and fashion overlap and influence one another. When we saw the first work in Cleveland Dean’s Cloth° series, it was a literal bright spot in a long, difficult year. Collectively, we are all seeking vibrancy.  Now, we’re witnessing this on a global scale as we look […]

Just as in-person events begin to return, PAGODA RED founder Betsy Nathan had the pleasure of seeing the current exhibition at The Art Center Highland Park. Follow along with her, as she views the show guided by curiosity and love of ephemeral expression. It was great to visit The Art Center Highland Park and take in artists’ thoughtful perspectives […]

Whether she’s working with paints or pencils, artist Yoko Tanaka rarely strays from her chosen palette of soft, smoky tones that lend her pieces a hushed, otherworldly quality, and a rich undercurrent of emotion. The somber figures depicted in her works are frequently placed in spare, but fanciful settings, lending them a fabulist, folkloric air. […]