SOLSTICE Create Art For Earth Curated by
Judy Chicago
®
and Turner Carroll Gallery
Turner Carroll Gallery 725 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501 505.986.9800 turnercarrollgallery.com info@turnercarrollgallery.com Š2020 Turner Carroll Gallery Essay: Sally Sasz Design: Shastyn Blomquist Photography: courtesy of the artists Front Cover: Judy Chicago (USA) Turn Over a New Leaf, 2000 painting, applique, and embroidery on linen and charmeuse 18 x 24 in. appliquÊ and embroidery by Jane Thompson Inside Front Cover: Sasha Stiles (Russia/USA) Human Nature, 2020 video, 0:10 Back Cover: Tomaso Marcolla (Italy) Water, 2019-2020 photo and computer graphics on archival fine art paper on panel 39.3 x 24.75 in.
SOLSTICE Create Art For Earth Curated by and Turner Carroll Gallery In the “Solstice: Create Art for Earth” exhibition, artist Judy Chicago and Turner Carroll Gallery bring the work of artists across the globe together in the shared pursuit of justice for humans, animals, and the environment. This fight for justice surpasses barriers of race, gender, class, and even species. We are all bound to the earth and only together can we save it. The “Solstice” exhibition showcases the works of Judy Chicago, Swoon, and other artists from Finland, Iran, Italy, Japan, and the U.S. through a diverse collection of environmentally-focused art that calls us to reflect upon our impact on the planet and to consider a better way forward. The exhibition is in tandem with the international #CreateArtforEarth initiative conceived by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Jane Fonda, Judy Chicago, Greenpeace, and Swoon to empower artists to speak through their work and spur global action. Judy Chicago’s Turn Over a New Leaf ignites the exhibition. The multi-media work juxtaposes a row of hacked tree stumps with an Edenic, healthy tree, highlighting the paradoxical hope for ecological regeneration with the turning of a page. Chicago created Turn Over a New Leaf in 2000 as part of her Resolutions series, in which she strove to remind us of our social contract to create a more just world for all. As is the case for much of Chicago’s work, Turn Over a New Leaf gains relevance with each passing year. This collaborative artwork between Chicago and needleworker Jane Thompson demonstrates that the healing of the Earth will require global cooperation on an even greater scale. The show also features Italian artist Tomaso Marcolla. His work, Water, illustrates the reality of the ever-dwindling water supply, reminding us that the Earth’s natural resources are limited and swiftly disappearing. This artwork incites reflective pause toward cavalier consumption, reminding us that water is finite like the tabs of a tear-off advertisement—there is only so much to go around. Walter Robinson’s Juice 2 explores similar themes related to the scarcity of Earth’s natural resources through a parodic representation of the planet being “juiced” by the government. The exhibition is especially piercing in the face of the coronavirus pandemic on top of decades of ecological destruction. In this time of global uncertainty, one thing is clear: we stand at the crux of change. Composed by all, for all, “Solstice: Create Art for Earth” beckons creative unity through art and collective action for environmental justice. When it comes to turning over a new leaf, the time is now. Sally Sasz Morehead-Cain Scholar University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Memento Mori: The 100 Dead Birds Project began in 2019 as a chronicle of humans’ impact on birds. In the early stages of creating the piece, Eckert posted on Instagram requesting images of dead birds with a plan to create a floor sculpture of one hundred individual birds, each one coiled from wire, cotton, and linen. The first image to appear on her phone in response to the social media plea was a common koel that had collided with a window in Far North Queensland. Over the following months she added an Arizona owl electrocuted by a high-tension wire, a flicker found on a New York City street, and a hummingbird spotted on the roof of San Francisco’s de Young Museum, among many others. Though the original goal was 100 birds, the sculpture will continue to grow indefinitely and surpass its original quota as images arrive from around the world.
Carol Eckert (USA) Memento Mori: The 100 Dead Birds Project, 2012 cotton, linen, wire variable dimensions 2
Judy Chicago created Turn Over a New Leaf in 1990 as part of her Resolutions series. This work conveys a hopeful message about the possibility of reversing our collective environmental wrongs, and the message gains relevancy with every passing day. The collaborative effort to create this artwork in partnership with needleworker Jane Thompson exemplifies the cooperative effort it will take to repair the world, one fiber—and one fine, deliberate brushstroke—at a time. Judy Chicago (USA) Turn Over a New Leaf, 2000 painting, applique, and embroidery on linen and charmeuse appliqué and embroidery by Jane Thompson 18 x 24 in. 3
Italian artist Francesco Fossati’s Scultura Bacche Nere [Black Berries Sculpture] is a small threedimensional work made with a combination of carefully boiled paper and an assortment of black berries. The resulting dough was modeled using a plastic crate originally intended for vegetables that impressed several faces of the work with a geometric, gridded pattern. The vegetal materials compiled to create the sculpture were previously used for the production of another work from the artist’s Organic Pictures series. Thus, the artwork itself is essentially “re-cycled.”
After significant experimentation, Francesco Fossati packed his first natural oil color: ash-gray. This work is the first tube of the first batch of natural oil color ever produced in the artist’s studio. The paint was handcrafted using only natural essences in order to rethink the relationship betwen picture-making and nature. Each tube of paint is numbered, and the tube marked 00 of every original batch is a work of art, while the rest are shared with over 30 different artists experimenting with rough oil colors in their art.
Francesco Fossati (Italy) Black Berries Sculpture 02, 2019 boiled paper and blackberries 2.5 x .8 x 4.5 in. Francesco Fossati (Italy) Natural Oil-Colour (Ash Gray), 2020 aluminum tube, paper, ash and organic linseed oil 5.5 x 1 x 1.4 in. 4
Triangoli Decrescenti (Ortensia) [Decreasing Triangles (hydrangea)] was created with the lowest environmental impact possible. Fossati used only vegetation picked from around his studio and harnessed renewable energy for the printing process. Hydrangea leaves cut into triangles of varying sizes were arranged atop the canvas and printed with the ecoprint tecnique, which allows the botanical pigments to permanently transfer onto the canvas. Hence, nearly every element of the work was determined by the natural substances, seasons, and climate. Francesco Fossati (Italy) Decreasing Triangles (hydrangea), 2019 ecoprint on organic cotton 55.1 x 84.6 in. 5
Juice 2 comments on world’s confrontation of a series of interrelated crises: issues of economic and social inequality, overpopulation, and environmental collapse. The political and economic power structures controlling the globe have promoted behaviors and beliefs that actively ignore these problems and even exacerbate them by encouraging increased consumption and greater class division. The health of the planet is an overarching problem that affects everyone. New Mexico and the Southwest are full of mineral resources that have been exploited with little oversight, and current deregulation is speeding up this destructive process. In this mixed media sculpture, Juice 2, Robinson depicts an exaggerated parody of the situation as he sees it, using humor and absurdity to illustrate the danger of ignoring the obvious issues of our world. Walter Robinson (USA) Juice 2, 2020 wood, polyester resin, iron paint, found metal globe, human hair 34 x 45 x 11 in. 6
Deluge was inspired by a conte drawing by Leonardo da Vinci that depicts an aerial view of patches of land inundated by a storm of biblical proportions. Details gradually emerge within a graceful and cinematic study of atmospheric effects, movement, destruction, and chaos. The work is as much about the power of nature as it is about the loss of control over our waste. Harkening back to the awe and destruction of old master paintings of the sublime, Deluge holds up a mirror inviting us to reflect on the fact that our actions have consequences. Scott Greene (USA) Deluge, 2018 oil on canvas over panel 84 x 60 in. 7
Tomaso Marcolla is an Italian graphic designer and artist whose work addresses surreal visions related to values that characterize his daily life such as solidarity, nonviolence, and environmental protection. Intertwining these themes with current international affairs, Marcolla calls viewers to think and reflect about the precarious state of our world. Tomaso Marcolla (Italy) Drought, 2017 photo and computer graphics on archival fine art paper on panel 39.3 x 27.5 in. 8
Nüwa Mama depicts the story of Nüwa, a woman who shares the same name as a Chinese mythological figure believed to protect humankind and heal the Earth. According to Chinese mythology, Nüwa created all people out of clay and dove into the water to pick up rocks and make the stars. Elements related to Nüwa appear in the silkscreen in the background of the work. When the four mythological pillars that supported China shattered and the landscape fell to ruins, it was Nüwa, widely considered the mother goddess of Chinese mythology, that put the country back together. Hung Liu (China/USA) Nüwa Mama, 2020 mixed media on panel 60 x 41 in. 9
Frank Morbillo uses discarded plastic in a casting process that reshapes the original materials to create something completely new. The process is not intended to be highly refined; as a result, the finished works feel more like stratified stone or sedimentary rock with deliberately exposed components and warped textures. Using the ultimate man-made material, plastic, to take on natural organic qualities, Morbillo sets up a dichotomy intended to make us pause and think: could this be a future material extracted from the earth such as the stratified waste of the Anthropocene? Perhaps. Whatever our wonderings, however, Morbillo believes that art made from recycled plastic has the potential to inspire the preservation and protection of the natural environment. Frank Morbillon (USA) The Wall, 2020 steel, cast and forged recycled plastic 6 x 14 x 6 in. courtesy of Matthews Gallery 10
The Plan: Arrive and park at 10:30 Walk to the Fair Oaks side of the park to see each other. Then take a position on the oval walkway. At 11 face clockwise and begin to walk slowly and thoughtfully around the oval keeping 6’ or more apart. Enjoy seeing friends and the beauty of the park. Wear colorful clothes...wave and sing if you feel like it! At 12 everyone turn inward to the center, wave and cheer... And then go home!! Ephemeral hugs, Barbara MUST wear face mask. Folks can come and go as needed.
Barbara T. Smith is a revolutionary feminist performance artist who has collaborated on major works such as Womanhouse (1972) with Judy Chicago as well as other creative initiatives with the Guerrilla Girls, Yono Oko, and Louise Bourgeois among others. We are honored to have her participate in this exhibition.
Barbara T. Smith (USA) A Walk in the Park 4/29/2020 in Central Park in Pasadena, CA performance, walking meditation 11
Ali Myers (UK) Time for Change, 2020 video, 0:25 12
Shawn Smith’s work focuses on the increasingly digital interaction humans have with nature. His three-dimensional renderings of pixelated photographs of animals shed light on environmental crisis and extinction.
Shawn Smith (USA) Glitched Impala, 2020 basswood, ink, acrylic paint 27.5 x 8.25 x 9 in. 13
Inspired by one of the most cherished books of science in the Islamic world, Negar Tahsili’s Marvels of Creatures and Miraculous Aspects of Things celebrates the elegance of nature’s tiniest elements. Written by Zakariya ibn Muhammad al-Qazwini (circa 1203–83), the source text explores the supraterrestrial, the terrestrial, and the overarching impact of human activities on climatic alterations on both a regional and planetary scale. Peppered with anecdotes, myths, parables, and rhythmic prose, Qazwini’s text-like Tahsili’s work-- sheds light on almost-magical, yet often overlooked productions of nature such as a moth poised on a fragile snail shell.
Negar Tahsili (Iran) From the series The Marvels of Creatures and Miraculous Aspects of Things, 2020 dried creatures 1.18 x 1.18 x 0.79 in. 14
For Alison the Lacemaker, Swoon drew a portrait of a friend sewing. She used Vermeer’s Lacemaker as a natural muse. In this work, life unfolds from the lacemaker’s hands in the form of incredibly delicate paper, reinforcing the ephemeral nature of nature itself.
Swoon (USA) Alison the Lacemaker, 2016 silkscreen, cut paper, collage, handmade paper 34.25 x 24.4 in. 15
Inspired by the sandhill cranes that fly over his home in the Rio Grande River Valley on their way to Bernardo, NM, each November and March, Donald Woodman’s Cranes highlights the ever-intensifying trials and tribulations cranes face as they migrate each year.
Donald Woodman (USA) Cranes, 2020 archival pigment print on canvas 77 x 60 in. 16
Andrea Bowers and Suzanne Lacy (USA) This Earth, What She is to Me, 2020 Based on eco-feminist poet Susan Griffin’s “This Earth” from Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her video, 3:36 17
Cheri Gaulke (USA) I Am COVID-19, 2020 video, 3:00 18
In A Greener LA, HOLA artists inspire kids to look at the reality of their environment, envision how they’d prefer it to be, and manifest that vision in their art.
Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) (USA) A Greener LA - Drawing Lesson, 2020 video, 5:33 19
Sara Madan (Kingdom of Bahrain) Burning Planet, 2020 video of mixed media on canvas, 3:00 20
Jocelyn Meyer/Studio Juice Box (Japan) We Are Fishies, 2020 video, 0:36 21
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