In the realm of fantasy, theLord of the Rings trilogy reigns supreme as possibly the greatest cinematic achievement the genre has ever seen. Based on the seminal, pioneering novels by J. R. R. Tolkien, the trilogy follows Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) on a quest to destroy the One Ring, a powerful item capable of subduing all the free people of Middle-earth. The movies broke new ground, dominating the box office and earning a whopping 17 Oscar wins out of 30 nominations. In short, they revolutionized fantasy and marked a distinct before and after, influencing every genre movie released since.
There are thousands upon thousands of types of mold out there. Some you can eat—think the rind on a wheel of brie or a gray fungus known as “noble rot” that gives certain types of grapes an extra sweet flavor for dessert wines. But there are plenty we shouldn’t eat, and when that loaf of bread in the cupboard begins to turn blue-green, it’s definitely time to chuck it in the bin. For Kathleen Ryan, the myriad colors and textures of mold continue to inspire larger-than-life sculptures of fruit and other foods that, in a way, preserve decay.
Ryan’s oversized works are characterized by their textural finishes, often using salvaged metal and other materials in addition to an array of colored beads and semiprecious stones to achieve the effects of layered fungi and rot. Recent works such as “Bad Lemon (Slice of Paradise)” and “Screwdriver” nod to the realm of cocktails and, by extension, the notion of luxury and even vacations—concepts that somewhat sour within the context of an increasingly vulnerable economy.
Juxtaposing stones ranging from amethyst and azurite to turquoise and tourmaline with salvaged metal from vintage cars, Ryan’s sculptures evoke an array of associations. She has previously likened their over-the-top scale to the roadside attractions tourists might see along Interstate highways, such as giant doughnuts and other foods and animals.
Like a geode that doesn’t look like much from the outside, works like “Bad Lemon (Slice of Paradise)” have two very different personalities, where the metal exterior lets on little about what’s inside. Ryan taps into our appreciation of hidden beauty when opening up an ancient, crystallized stone while simultaneously suggesting the grotesqueness of opening a peach, for example, only to find it rotten inside.
Some of the works seen here were recently on view at Karma in New York, and you can find more on Ryan’s Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Semiprecious Stones Coat Kathleen Ryan’s Oversized Sculptures of Rotting Food appeared first on Colossal.
Benny Safdieand Nathan Fielderare two of the most unique creators working in Hollywood today, but they aren’t a pair that would normally be associated with one another. Safdie has made a series of intense, gritty thrillers with his brother, whereas Fielder has developed an offbeat brand of dark comedy that consistently tears down the fourth wall. Their collaboration with Showtime's The Curse confronts uncomfortable ideas about what constitutes goodnessand uses the guise of being a genre show to spearhead caustic commentary about the artifice people tend to ignore. While being so avant-garde can sometimes be frustrating, The Curse is so entertaining in its idiosyncrasies that it grows more rewarding on each rewatch.
It’s time to break the illusion: actors are not actually the characters they play. And yes, that means they might cross multiple major franchises. In the world of major pop culture movie franchises, there are very few that are bigger and more beloved than Star Wars and Harry Potter. Though one is a science fiction space opera and the other is a magical fantasy epic, there is a crossover in themes, thus drawing in a familiar demographic.
Taylor Sheridan fans are riding high right now after the legendary writer has delivered several intense shows to kick off 2026. Sheridan got the ball rolling with a new Yellowstone offshoot, Marshals, which stars Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton now that he’s left ranch life behind to become a U.S. marshal. Around the same time that Marshals was first released via CBS — the first Sheridan-produced network show — Paramount Plus subscribers were treated to the first season of The Madison, the touching drama led by Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer. The Madison has already been renewed for second and third seasons, so the show isn’t going off the air anytime in the next few years. Sheridan has a few other shows set to return later this year, including Tulsa King (starring Sylvester Stallone) and Mayor of Kingstown (starring Jeremy Renner), but the latter isn’t the first time he has worked with the MCU star.
There couldn't have been an actor more suited to the role of John Dutton on Yellowstone than Kevin Costner. And despite the ups and downs, the back and forth, the will-they-won't-they between him and the show's creator, Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone turned out to be just the sort of hit that Costner needed at this stage of his career. The show's success gave him the confidence to mount his own Western epic, Horizon: An American Saga, which remains stalled after the underperformance of the first installment. He spent a considerable amount of his Yellowstone earnings on self-financing the epic Western series, not to mention the fact that he effectively gave up the chance to return for more seasons of the show by focusing on his own project. But Costner and the Western genre go hand-in-hand; some of the best and most underrated movies of his career are Westerns.
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