Edition Number

For his first time-limited sculpture, James Jean sets a ghostly figure in perpetual freefall. First seen tumbling through flowers and clouds in an epic 2019 painting, the Descendent has become a prominent motif in James Jean’s explorations of time, space and fantasy. Falling forever, yet somehow serene, the figure represents ‘caught in between' feelings of all kinds – up and down, east and west, dream and reality.Descendent - Lucid Dreamer is cast in frosted resin, painstakingly refined to achieve the perfect level of transparency. On a mirrored glass pedestal the sculpture becomes illusory – weightless above its own reflection.Each day of the launch will be accompanied by a puzzle, seven in total. Solve them for the chance to win one of the first seven sculptures from the edition and an original James Jean sketch.

A miniature giant by legendary photographer, JR. In his ongoing Giants series, JR takes over buildings and monuments worldwide with enormous black and white portraits. The project began in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Olympics – championing determined world class athletes who didn’t quite make the cut. Mohamed, a Sudanese high-jumper, took his place on the roof of a foreclosed apartment building overlooking the ocean. A first-of-its-kind sculpture archives the moment at a domestic scale. The figure, printed on acrylic, can be affixed to a scaffold made from welded steel rods and displayed in isolation, or placed on top of a bespoke plinth which doubles up as an edition box. “All my works are ephemeral. If you go back to Rio it’s not there, but it’s there in people’s minds. For the people who haven’t seen it, here is the proof that it at some point existed.”Watch the accompanying film to hear JR’s reflections on scale, scaffolding and the importance of protecting his naivety.

With an assembly of red bronzes, Paul McCarthy imparts a lewd lesson on the duality of an object.From early performances to pop-up Parisian confectioners and 80-foot inflatables, sex toys and Santa Claus have a storied past in the work of seminal American artist Paul McCarthy. Short of a signature, the two belong to a perverse lexicon of icons and archetypes which McCarthy has revisited, re-invented and combined at will over the course of his five decade career. In this case, questioning the commodification of Christmas and the associations of a derided object which – in another context – might be considered a masterstroke of minimalism.Santa with Butt Plug Bronze 11.4 inches revisits a 2001 public sculpture commissioned by the city of Rotterdam. A foam replica, created during the casting process and subsequently left to rot for five years outside McCarthy’s studio, provides the form for a new and smaller incarnation. Cracks, fissures and imperfections are preserved as testament to the artwork’s ongoing history. A sanguine finish completes the edition – heightening the fidelity of its surface and fulfilling McCarthy’s vision for his original, large-scale Santa.For the full picture, read an accompanying journal – Butt plugs, Santa Claus & Paul McCarthy.

To benefit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, silkscreen print Too Darn Hot combines a landmark moment for Tom Sachs’ practice with his continued investigations of the past, present and future of authentication.“The thing about faith is that it's for the faithful. It only works if you believe in it.”The acquisition of Too Darn Hot – a ‘frankenrocket’ from Sachs’ trailblazing Rocket Factory project – by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) underscored the museum’s position as one of the most progressive in the world with regard to the intersections of art and technology. To support the future of this position, 40% of proceeds from the Sachs’ first Avant Arte edition will be donated to LACMA.Each 13-colour silkscreen print includes a group of mechanisms conceived by the artist to establish its authenticity, and as integral parts of the artwork. A debossed design includes information from the launch of Sachs’ physical Too Darn Hot rocket at LACMA in 2021. A rubber stamp in its centre denotes the print’s specific number within the overall edition. A QR code printed in UV ink connects each print with the original Too Darn Hot NFT metadata on the blockchain. On the print’s reverse is a tamper-proof holographic sticker, placed alongside a QR code sticker that links to a unique token on the blockchain – an NFT – which serves as a certificate of authenticity for the print it connects with. A second, printed certificate of authenticity shipped with each print also links directly to this NFT. The exact edition size will be determined by the number of prints ordered in the 24 hour release window. When this window ends, artworks will be printed, authenticated and shipped worldwide free of charge.

In Seated Bronze, Tschabalala Self uses an everyday moment and object – sitting, on a chair – as an entry point to questions of permission and performance.Created alongside the artist’s first large-scale public sculpture, the work celebrates an otherwise-innocuous moment of relaxation. Each bronze sculpture is finished with a unique, mottled patina.“The woman is strong, beautiful and self-possessed. She represents all individuals, but women in particular, who understand the power and importance of simple gestures that assert their right to take up space.”On October 5 Self's monumental sculpture was unveiled at Coal Drops Yard in London, where it will remain on view until early 2023. To discover the collaboration in full, visit the accompanying journal.

DRx, Neighborhood SRL & CRamics
Avant Arte presents a multimode collaboration between DRx (category-defying creative and ‘fortune telling’ collector, Darren Romanelli), SRL (Specimen Research Laboratory, an offshoot of trailblazing streetwear brand Neighborhood) and CRamics (graphic designer turned ceramicist, Candice Romanelli).Comprising a vinyl figure complete with removable mask, hands and apron, a limited edition Neighborhood SRL T-shirt and a slab-made, fired stoneware vessel by CRamics, the collaboration connects eclectic subcultural references with a profound appreciation for collecting, cactus cultivation and botany at large. True to Romanelli’s reputation as a multi-hyphenate practitioner, the 3 artefacts deftly entwine tenets of ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture – questioning how said categories have been and might be defined to begin with. Read an interview with Darren and Neighborhood founder Shinsuke Takizawa to find out more.Please note that dimensions listed below reference the vinyl figure.

LY extolls droll wanderlust in the monochromatic adventures of imagined character, LUV.While themes of urban isolation predate COVID-19 in the artist's work, they are perhaps more tangible and universally-felt in the aftermath of almost two years of various lockdowns and restrictions. A pair of new editions, Confused LUV and Still Confused see the artist's ever-ambiguous character curled into a ball. As their titles suggest, LUV is confused.

The familiar and the strange merge exquisitely in Alake Shilling’s inimitable world — welcoming us to reflect on the boundless yet universal nature of human emotion.The first of four characters in a series curated by Darren Romanelli, Jolly Bear is a sculpture edition made in hand moulded, frit-dyed porcelain.