From camper van photography to ceramic bananas, here is this month’s must-see art.
Erin M Riley
The American artist’s profile has been on the rise in the last year. Erin M Riley had a recent solo show at P·P·O·W in New York, and she is included in Timothy Taylor’s IRL, a group show that explores how social life and sensory experience is impacted by the digital realm. Riley’s works are a complex blend of online and offline experiences. She often depicts her subjects engaging with a phone or computer screen, yet she uses an incredibly hands-on process by creating all of her works using tapestry. Her materials are sourced from shuttered fabric mills around the US, and she uses imagery taken by herself or found online. Her works are raw and emotional, touching on sexuality, self-worth, violence and trauma, from a deeply personal angle. “I’ve learned my dark places are cyclical like cicadas,” she says. “Growing in the dirt to emerge every decade. I photograph the bad moments because they do eventually fade.”