Commissioned by THE THING to create an umbrella, visual artist Kota Ezawa went for a hybrid of form, function and entertainment (as only a zoetrope can be). Each panel of the umbrella contains a victorian woman in various stages of umbrella opening, like a film still in a zoetrope. Get it out in the rain and take it for a spin.
Kota Ezawa’s practice uses animated video to reconsider images from art history and popular culture, slide projections, light boxes, collages, and prints. His work has been shown is solo exhibitions at Hayward Gallery Project Space (London), Artpace San Antonio, and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. He participated in group exhibitions at Museum of Modern Art in New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Warhol Museum, and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. He is currently on faculty at the California College of Arts in San Francisco.
Walking stick umbrella. Automatic open.
Open diameter: 46”. Closed length: 35”.
Wooden hook handle and tip. Polyester.