Landscapes of Life & Death

May 27 – July 22, 2017
Reception: Saturday, May 27, 6 – 8 pm

516 ARTS
516 Central Ave SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102  •  www.516arts.org

Landscapes of Life & Death is a group photography exhibition in the upstairs gallery guest curated by Mary Anne Redding for PhotoSummer 2017 and in conjunction with the downstairs exhibition Fires of Change. Landscapes of Life & Death examines how photography poses a unique opportunity to look at loss, extinction, death and renewal, spanning emotional landscapes of human death as well as environmental landscapes of destruction. Contemporary photographic artists Lynne Buchanan (FL), Kevin Horan (WA), Marietta Patricia Leis (NM), Ella Sala Myers (NM), Kevin O’Connell (CO) and Donna Wan (CA) address the nuances of loss and grief for themselves and the planet by examining our intimate connections with nature.

Curator Mary Anne Redding says, “Generally, the idea of death makes people slightly, if not wholly, uncomfortable, especially when it’s the intimate idea of human death, the death of a beloved pet, or the mass destruction of life and landscape after a devastating fire. Yet many artists explore the shape of loss as a meditation on the landscape of death, whether contemplating their own or through a more universal meditation on loss and grief. Many artists are exploring through their lenses the no longer subtle effects climate change is having on the landscape and those of us who inhabit altered lands. Photographs, grounded as they are in reality, or some approximation of reality—given digital interventions, pose a unique opportunity to look at the cycles of life and death, often in a public setting.”

Image: Donna J. Wan, Dumbarton Bridge #4, 2014, inkjet pigment print, 32 x 40 inches