James Gulliver Hancock is an illustrator whose pieces of conceptual art and sculpture show different aspects of his talent. Edges were part of a miniature public installation in Vienna, along the lines of Keys to the City where he included antique keys in the sculpture. Throwaway Phrases was a project involving transparent bin liners in Paris. Poking through Hancock's portfolio is great fun.

Artist: James Gulliver Hancock
+ jamesgulliverhancock.com

Anda Solo (Walking Alone) is a new exhibition of works by Cuban-born installation artist Ramsés Larzábal who creates minimalist sculpture by using simple, commonplace materials such as wire, ribbons, drinking straws, plastic beads, bamboo, cardboard and springs. The artist carefully combines the materials until they become quite complex structural organisms at times, often delicate, yet striking, in appearance. The play of shadows is, of course, as much part of the installation as the tactile components.

Artist: Ramsés Larzábal
+ g415.com

More Lauri Lynnxe Murphy today because we can’t get enough. Murphy’s clusters of organic painted forms are a cross between painting and sculpture. The work involves composition within each piece and then again when acting as part of a whole within an installation or arrangement on the wall. Murphy will start out with her own idea of arrangement, but allows that the next person will re-create it in a different way. For this series, Murphy works primarily with cast urethane or polyester resin.

Artist: Lauri Lynnxe Murphy
+ lynnxe.com

One of our favorite installations at the Come Up To My Room group exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel this year was Dennis Lin’s room. Take A Number was the piece that struck us the most: a wall of cast concrete numbers from 1 to 5, some embellished with a bit of sparkle. Equally impressive was Lin’s lathe-turned urban forest of massive reclaimed tree trunks that stood majestically in the room, surrounded by Lin’s delicate mobiles. What number did we take?

Artist: Dennis Lin
+ umomo.com

When you visit Alexandra Rozenman’s website, you will be mesmerized by the eyes. Then you may explore her paintings, looking for more eyes. You'll notice her installations, and you will be intrigued by penguins, braids and laundry. But venture farther to the outdoor site specific installations, and there you will find pigs afloat on cheese, oranges cheering up parking lots and contemplative penguins going down stream. You may, quite possibly against your will, be unable to take your eyes off these.

Artist: Alexandra Rozenman
+ alexandrarozenman.com

There is a lot more to Danish artist Peter Land than this working water fountain with water flowing through the mouth of a young girl. It is almost hard to believe this same artist was known for strip dancing videos and performance art. It is work like this that makes us wonder how much back story or careful examination of an artist’s oeuvre is necessary for the enjoyment of a single piece. But then we conclude, as we usually do, that it is the moment that counts, for it is the moment that will take us further forward or back deeper. Snapshot, the fountain we saw at Art Basel Miami Beach was effective in the moment for it made us do that double take: was that a little girl balanced on the rocks? Or was it the background of Land’s paintings that pulled us in more closely? So the moment was really a snapshot: an introduction to a whole lot more.

Artist: Peter Land
+ nicolaiwallner.com

Nils Rainer Schultze is a Berlin lighting designer who transforms the bleak winter nights by using areas that are usually fine weather fountains to produce lighting sculptures. Instead of dispensing water, the fountains shed colourful light that transforms the urban landscape at a time before the solstice when we really appreciate it. Shown above is Winterwolken, an installation that changes colour when people approach. These are great examples of public art that make a difference.

Artist: Nils Rainer Schultze
+ schultze-krause.de

0 0 1 1 04 01 08 0 9003 is an amazing installation by Clara Wicke in Wiesbaden that consists of eight bodies hanging from the ceiling encased in a white gauze-like fabric. Who are they? Why do they float above? What has arrested their flight? Angels, conscience, random thoughts at rest? Are they memories or part of that dream state when you feel you are flying?

Artist: Clara Wicke
+ haseform.de

Spencer Finch works with a variety of media in order to depict certain light conditions at different times of day, in different places. The helium balloons shown above are actually violet balloons inside cobalt ones to match the blue of the sky over Coney Island in November 2004, in the early afternoon. The oval fresco that follows is an interpretation of the ceiling over Freud’s couch in Vienna, as seen in the morning. A series of multicoloured fluorescent lights is the representation of sunset over South Texas in June of 2003. Can we prove that the colours and light come even close? No, but we can appreciate the efforts, the concept and the tangible results.

Artist: Spencer Finch
+ spencerfinch.com

Large Field Array, an installation by Keith Tyson, is comprised of 230 different sculptures by the artist to make up one “field array”, named after a field of radio telescopes in New Mexico that focuses on a single point from many points of view to result in a clear picture of the universe. Tyson’s sculptures take up about two square feet and are spaced four feet apart and are connected in a variety of ways: visually, psychologically, conceptually, physically, etc. The viewer must pass through them to create his or her own connections and question the notion of individuality in relation to them.

Artist: Keith Tyson
+ pacewildenstein.com

Katharina Grosse’s recent installations are wonderfully vibrant bursts of colour. Atoms Outside Eggs is a mix of bold streaks of expression in acrylic on the walls and floor of the site in Serralves, the wildly perfect backdrop for Styrofoam balls of colour, like giant marbles. Atomimage, an installation in Basel, was composed of acrylic on wall, PVC carpeting, canvas and latex balloons, similar to the Picture Park installation currently on show in Brisbane. Grosse’s work makes one feel incredibly alive.

Artist: Katharina Grosse
+ katharinagrosse.com