Flower Powder: The Art of Wolfgang Laib

First off, many thanks to Peter, who, in response to my recent post on bees in art, mentioned the work of bee-related art of Wolfgang Laib.

I'd never heard of Laib before, but today I spent some time learning more about this artist, who works in various materials, from milk and rocks, to beeswax and pollen he gathers himself (painstaking work! ask any honeybee!) in the meadows of rural Germany, where he resides.

Laib studied to be a doctor and jumped ship for art. Now he goes around collecting flower powder in fields and rearranging it on the floors of urban galleries. His beeswax sculptures make me immediately want to go and formulate earthy, totemic sculptures from the extra wax I have lying around in the shed. I like it when art makes me want to go out and make my own art!

Here are some data-nuggets I dug up on Laib, just for you.

• An essay on his work entitled "Bee-ing and Nothingness."

• Images of his work.
  

• An Art in America article on Laib.

• A slideshow and link more info and details on a retrospective monograph of Laib's creations.
  

And while you're at it, take a gander at this video walk-through of a recent gallery show of Laib's work, including his strangely moving and meditative pollen art.