A History of Frogs at Marta

In a new exhibition by the artist duo A History of Frogs (Antonia Pinter and Chase Biado), the couple propose a new genre: Folk Elf, a series of design objects and drawings made from the perspective of an elven land, in which imperfections, adornment, and ritual guide the making. Bronze candelabras and a mammalian figurine with Giacometti-like elongated features are met with delicate lamps made with patches of burlap that form conical lampshades. Small brass sculptures propose ad-hoc structures that feel like significant monuments within the built elven world. 

A series of drawings, each depicting an elf house with a pitched roof, ground the proposed objects within an imagined forested landscape. Bespoke brass bells top off the mystical collection of objects, which as a whole revels in a kind of magical play that asks us to imagine a world outside of our own, using our own imaginations as a wellspring of creative activity.   

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On view: November 12 – December 23 2022

Photo: A History of Frogs, Elf House (installation view). Image courtesy of the artists and Marta Los Angeles.