October 8 - November 20
(Opening reception: Friday, October 8th, 5 - 8pm)
The relationship between nature and culture is as old as the hills, or rather, as old as there have been people around to wonder about the hills. The subject of nature and the land in artwork is, likewise, older than we can know. Landscape art is just a recent step in the ongoing discussion.
This is not a landscape show nor a collection of
landscape
artists. This is a show of artists who explore the nature/culture
relationship
at a time in history when the build up of history and the layers of
culture
mediate our connection to nature. Each artist relies on the cultural
forms
of language and representation to comment on the growing distance
between
who we are and the natural world around us.
Artists in the exhibition:
Luke Batten photographs subjects
in the act of viewing sublime vistas. Two recent series of works depict
tourists atop the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and at a cliff overlooking
Niagara
Falls.
Kasarian Dane makes monochromatic
paintings on narrow, horizontal (typically 18" x 120")
panels.
Layers of earthtones in panoramic formats simultaneously elicit grand
landscape
painting and late modern abstraction.
Jan Estep uses a variety of media
to make work inspired by camping gear, camouflage and travelogues. Her
work folds the layers of the nature of history in on layers of the
culture
industry.
Susan Peterson employs the
language
and subject matter of the natural sciences and civil engineering to
explore
the psycho-sexual metaphor and hyperbolic drama woven into our attempts
to describe and quantify the natural forces around us.
The film "Koyaanisqatsi" was hailed as a cinematic and conceptual masterpiece upon its release by Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass in 1983. Elegantly and beautifully exploring the impact of human civilization and the growth of technology on nature, the film is even more poignant at the brink of a new millennium in the age of networking and globalization. More information can be found on the official Koyaanisqatsi Web Site.
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The film will be screened continuously on video as
part
of the exhibition, and a special projected screening will be presented
on Thursday, October 21st at 7pm as part of the West Loop Gate Arts
Council's
monthly Third Thursday events.
This exhibition is organized by G312 Advisory Committee members
Matthew Girson, Carol Jackson and Elizabeth
Thomas.
Special Events:
"Koyaanisqatsi" Screening -
Thursday, October 21st, 7pm
Artists' Talk -
Saturday, November 6th, 2pm
