Winslow Homer, Coconut Palms, 1898-1899, Baltimore Museum of Art
In this focus exhibition of approximately 20 photographs, prints, drawings, and textiles, the natural environment is a source of creative inspiration worth celebrating and protecting.
Works by artists such as Winslow Homer, Richard Misrach, Charles Sheeler, and Kiki Smith, among many others, depict the elements of air, water, earth, and fire and address broader themes of ecological awareness and preservation. These themes range from how artists have used visual language to convey the act of locating oneself in nature; works that depict natural forms through the physical integration of environmental components; and artists’ commentary on sites of environmental disaster, the sociopolitical ramifications of human impact, and the potential of symbiotic healing for this planet and its occupants.
According to co-curator Leslie Cozzi: “The conjunction of art and nature is one of the richest artistic themes across centuries, and this exhibition highlights the sheer creativity of artistic approaches to the elements. The variety of work will delight and perhaps even surprise people who think they know the BMA’s collections.”
Presented as part of the Turn Again to the Earth environmental initiative.
Untitled #6 (awakening after the Gulf Stream and the Hurricane), 2023, composition gold leaf, variegated metal leaf and Japanese colored silver leaf on handmade cotton/abaca paper with laser etching, 29 inches in diameter
Stacy Lynn Waddell // Photo: Kunning Huang