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The DART Board: Earth Matters

By Peggy Roalf   Friday April 16, 2021

Monday, May 10 | Madison Square Park, NYC

Maya Lin | Ghost Forest

A new installation by American sculptor Maya Lin, Ghost Forest at Madison Square Park, will confront viewers with the devastating impacts of climate change head-on. Starting on May 10 and on view through the fall, visitors to the public square in Manhattan will be able to walk among a thicket of some 50 towering dead trees, each standing 40 feet high. Above: photo by Maya Lin Studio; courtesy the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy

 

The work’s title refers to the disappearance of forestland due to extreme weather, sea-level rise, and other consequences of global warming, leaving vast areas of dead trees or “ghost forests.” The imposing Atlantic white cedars used in Lin’s work were sourced from a restoration project in  New Jersey’s Pine Barrens. Above: photo by Andy Romer; courtesy the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy

The stark contrast between the green, lush urban oasis and the haunting grove of spectral trees will serve as a “grave reminder of the consequences of inaction to the climate crisis,” said the park’s deputy director Brooke Kamin Rapaport in a statement. 

 

Thursday, April 15 | Online

Upcycling Detrius | Sculptors Alliance, Curated by Vernita Nemec 

In these times, our environment is in danger more than ever and we must do all we can to save it from further destruction. The evidence suggests that early art was created by artist/shamans in order to protect the hunt and bless the harvest. The power of art continues to exist in our time, a world of machines and cybernetics, and this power continues to be available for us to implement. 

Creating from the discarded materials as an alternative, however, is crucial — and the most responsible decision, to extend the use of materials and reduce the abuse of materials that result in the destruction of the environment. 

Selected Artists: Penny Babel, Z Behl, Michèle Fandel Bonner, Ellen Burnett, Emanuela Camacci, Irene Christensen, Marieken Cochius, Pam Cooper, Kyle Cottier, May deViney, Katherine Earle, Jodie Fink, Deb Flagel, Bess French, Garth Fry, Chris Hynes, Kazuo Ishikawa, Sun Young Kang, Soyoung L Kim, Henry Klimowitz, Bernice Sokol Kramer, Yvonne Lamar Rogers, Sandra Lapage, Eric David Laxman, Kathy Levine, Madeleine Lord, Rick McCoy, Elizabeth Morrisette, Kenichi Nakajima, Minga Opazo, Carol Oster, Carol Paik, Gale Rothstein, Sophia Ruppert, Dani Schuller, Ruby Silvious, Ian Trask, Rebecca McGee Tuck, Yuko Uchida, Jeanne Verdoux, April Wright, Toby Zallman, Larry Zdeb, and Dolores Zorreguieta.  

Upcycling Detrius continues at Sculptors Alliance through May 30. Panel Discussion: Friday, May 7, 7:00 PM. Register RSVP@sculptorsalliance.org Above: Doldores Zorreguieta,  My Babies Frankenstein, courtesy of the artist and @sculptors.alliance

 

 

 

Continuing through May 1 | In Person

Sakura for Tomorrow: A Conversation Between 22 Japanese & American Artists, curated by Vernita Nemec

Sakura has many meanings in the Japanese culture. It is the cherry blossom, considered the national flower of Japan, as well as the name of celebrations in early spring symbolizing rebirth, spring and new beginnings. It also can mean impermanence…. Sakura is also celebrated here in the US in many cities and is a time when we all celebrate our shared wishes for a bright future, a rebirth. Cherry blossoms, or Sakura, are a central motif in the worship of nature by the Japanese.. 

Sakura continues through May 1 at Viridian Artists, 548 W 28th Street, NY, NY Info Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12-6pm & by appointment with masks, or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com Above: Kenichiko Ootsuka, The Cypress Path, 2019; courtesy of the artist

Saturday, April 17, Noon-6:00 pm, In Person

Sandi Haber Fifield | As Birdsongs Emerge | The Certainty of Nothing

In As Birdsongs Emerge, Haber Fifield expands upon the idea of the artist as an architect of nature. Recording and distilling her experiences through the camera lens, the photographs serve as the starting point for her studio process in which she begins to alter the images, cutting them into geometric and organic shapes, then reassembling them in playful, overlapping layers to transform the representation of the perceivable world while pushing the expressive boundaries of the medium. Above: BE20_363, 2020. From the series As Birdsongs Emerge. Unique collaged archival pigment print, 36 1/4 x 28 7/8 inches

The compositions offer segments and shards of recognizable signifiers – palm fronds, cactus buds, rose bushes – that are spliced, layered, and abstracted into arrangements and associations that slow down the act of looking….The viewer is challenged to use their eyes, mind, and memories to navigate the picture plane and question the strata of seeing.

Sandi Haber Fifield | As Birdsongs Emerge | The Certainty of Nothing, Yancy Richardson Gallery, 525 West 22nd Street, NY, NY Info Above: BE20_369, 2020


 

 

 

Thursday, April 22 | Earth Day | In Person

Implied Scale: Confronting the Enormity of Climate Change

That the earth is undergoing a grievous change in climate is the defining crisis of our time. In the spirit of its ongoing concern for the future of our planet, Mana Contemporary will present the work of five artists — Catherine ChalmersZaria FormanJeff FrostTed Kim, and James Prosek — that not only imparts the gravity of our situation but also inspires our innate awe at the complexity of our planet’s ecosystems, arousing a commitment to action without invoking feelings of complete despair. The many ways in which climate change wreaks havoc on the earth’s intricate systems become evident in films by Chalmers and Frost, wall murals by Kim and Prosek, and large-scale pastel works by Forman. These artists, practicing across a number of disciplines, address diverse issues, from glacier melt to wildfires to habitat loss.

Implied Scale: Confronting the Enormity of Climate Change, Mana Contemporary, 888 Newark Avenue, Jersey City, NJ Info Above: James Prosek, Yellowstone 2021, courtesy of the artist

 

 

Pop_Up Continuing through April 27 | In Person

Stephen Mallon Cicely Carew,  Peter Gerakaris, Sam Nester, and Hara Woltz  | Eco Art/Earth Day Experience

This just in from subscriber Stephen Mallon: Next Stop: Atlantic has been selected by EcoArt Project for their Earth Day Experience. The cash award given to the five artists selected was supported  by The Rockefeller Brothers Fund . A portion of the sales is tax deductible and goes towards EcoArt's programming.
Eco Art/Earth Day Experience continues at Chashama 7 East 14th Street, NY, NY Info

Mallon adds, “Thanks to my EcoArt selection, I will have a virtual booth @ the Earth Day Initiative on Apr 19th. Please say hello, and check out all of the other amazing and events including Seth Stewart,  Fridays For Future, Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Elizabeth Warren! Full list of speakers and events is here.

 


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