Elements of Nature: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation

Wade Hoefer, The Gold Coast (1986); Elizabeth Shannon, Homage to the Comeback of the American Crocodile (1998); Chema Cobo, Map of the Sky-To Jurgen Glassemer (1988)

Lita Albuquerque, Part of the Stellar Axis: Antarctica Installation (2006); Lita Albuquerque, ELLE ET LUI (1982); Rocky Schenck, Jellyfish (2000); Ryozo Tsumaki, Kyohgen No Kabe [Wall of Appearing Border] (2007); Debbie Fleming Caffery, Gator Guard (2005)

Timothy Tompkins, Highway 89A (After Friedrich) (2003); Srdjan Loncar, Mountain (2006); Mark Chariker, From Nothing Comes Something (2007)

Emilio Perez, Do the Monkey II (2005); Ali Smith, Longscape (2009); Reed Danziger, Oscillation Point 703 (2006); Jen Liu, Brethren of the Stone: Paul’s Vision (Three Worlds Under a Mushroom Cloud Sky) (2006)

Robb Putnam, Dawdler (2010); Jack Youngerman, Blue Ellipse (1977-78); Frank Fleming, The Prince (1996); Joe Goode, Untitled (Commissioned Work)[Blue] (1979)

Andisheh Avini, Untitled IX (2005); Matt Wedel, flower tree (2009); Torben Giehler, Mont Blanc (2002)

Didier Massard, Rhinoeros (2004); Karen Heagle, Low Tide at Rialto Beach 4 (Entangled Starfish) (2005); Daniel Dove, Eye of Providence (2007)

Red Grooms, L’OURS (The Bear) (1989); Edward Ruscha, End (1983); David Bates, Magnolia in a Vase (Drawing) (2001); David Bates, Magnolia in a Vase (2001); Oliver Arms, Reflection (2007)

Date: April 2 – June 19, 2011

Curated By: Billie Milam Weisman
Venue: Brevard Art Museum
1463 Highland Ave
Melbourne, FL 32935

Exhibited Artists:
Lita Albuquerque, Oliver Arms, Andisheh Avini, David Bates, Roger Brown, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Huguette Caland, Alberto Carneiro, Mark Chariker, Chema Cobo, Reed Danziger, Dawn Dedeaux, Lesley Dill, Daniel Dove, Frank Fleming, Brian Forrest, Mark Fox, Eric Freeman, Torben Giehler, Jack Goldstein, Joe Goode, Brandon Graving, Red Grooms, Karen Heagle, Wade Hoefer, David Jones, Gegam Kacherian, Marina Kappos, Cheryl Laemmle, Christopher LeBrun, Jen Liu, Srdjan Loncar, Nathan Mabry, Daniel Mason, Didier Massard, Andy Moses, Emilio Perez, Robb Putnam, Robert Rauschenberg, Cornelia Renz, Thomas Rose, Edward Ruscha, Rocky Schenck, Christoph Schmidberger, Allison Schulnik , Elizabeth Shannon, Ali Smith, Donghyun Son, Timothy Tompkins, Ryozo Tsumaki, Alison Van Pelt, Robert Warrens, Matt Wedel, Neil Welliver, Frederick S. Wight, Lance Winn, Cindy Wright, Dustin Yellin, and Jack Youngerman.

Elements of Nature: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation

Nature has been a primary source of inspiration for artists throughout history. From the time of the earliest cave paintings artists have continued man’s ceaseless dialogue with the elements, drawing inspiration from natural phenomena as well as wildlife. Elements of Nature: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation takes this theme as timely and poignantly relevant considering how severely the earth has been impacted by recent environmental disasters. The residents of Florida bask in balmy breezes but respect the capricious power of hurricanes. As seen in the works presented, the “elements of nature” are not limited to the ancient conception of earth, air, fire, and water. They also include hurricanes, typhoons, eclipses, and sunsets, as well as plant and animal life. Many other natural occurrences impact, and are impacted, by our lives on earth. Each artist in this exhibition helps us to view nature through their aesthetic eye.

While the exhibition brings together perspectives from many areas of the world, a number of Southern California artists are represented by responding to their regional environment. Living on the opposite coast, Florida artists are greatly influenced by the quality of the light, and just as the brilliant light in the South of France was essential to the Impressionists, the light in Southern California has also profoundly affected the work of California artists from the mid-1960's until today. Ed Ruscha uses the classic western sunset to recall and comment upon the mystique of “Calitopia,” and Joe Goode shows us a “torn” blue sky that echoes the environmentally damaged atmosphere it represents. Jack Goldstein gives us a macro and micro view of the world in an eclipse which can only be viewed from a great distance, and the surface of an egg shell seen under great magnification. Lita Albuquerque captures a murky California sunrise, as well as a part of her Antarctica installation that traced the stars onto the ice above the South Pole. The unique landscape, climate and culture of Los Angeles and Southern California continue to inspire the artists that live and work there.

Some artists in the exhibition are influenced by the physical shapes, forms, and materials found in nature, which they reconstruct in their art. Alberto Carneiro and Brandon Graving find strength and beauty in the shapes and structure of tree branches and twigs, which they use directly as a medium to reinvent natural forms and give them a new context. Carneiro sculpts found branches, thereby creating a poetic hybrid where man and nature commune, while Graving incorporates twigs into her compositions to give the viewer a specific and intensified experience of a particular event. These artists bring nature itself into their works to grapple with the difficulty of representing the immense majesty and beauty of the earth.  

Photography is another medium perfectly poised to question our ability to objectively represent nature. Robert Rauschenberg uses a straightforward documentary style while Dawn Dedeaux makes objects in nature into surprisingly abstract compositions, and Debbie Fleming Caffery brings a poetic quality to images of the destruction after Hurricane Katrina. Other artists use digital technology to create images that problematize the objectivity of the photographic image. Didier Massard constructs his exotic landscapes in his studio entirely from his imagination, and Srdjan Loncar goes to extreme lengths to have the photographic representation stand in for the actual object by using collages of photographic prints of objects to create reconstructed three-dimensional sculptures that question the true nature of reality.

Some artists work with ideas that relate to the physical laws of nature, using its forms and movement in a spiritual fashion. Andy Moses uses a concave surface to create a seemingly endless horizon line. Ryozo Tsumaki is a Buddhist monk who embraces simplicity in his landscape scenes, and Ali Smith uses abstract forms in a petite format to make an intimate panorama.

Humans have also been inspired, influenced, and artistically motivated by wildlife, a facet of nature that humans relate and respond to in life. These are sometimes homage to the beauty and majesty of these living beings, such as Cindy Wright’s forbidden butterfly enlarged to such a degree that it becomes a bold imposing creature, or Elizabeth Shannon’s treacherous crocodile covered in gold metal leaf to preserve it in time as a precious object. Roger Brown incorporates a taxidermied wolf into an assemblage painting to comment upon man’s inhumanity to nature, while Daniel Dove gives us a ghost image of a mountain lion attacking a reindeer as evidence of the inherent brutality in nature. Other artists render the character of animals, such as in Christoph Schmidberger’s super-realistic rendering of a peaceful swan, or Alison Schulnik’s heavy use of impasto to convey the intense, alert gaze of a lemur.

The influence and inspiration of the natural world is evident in the works of this international group of artists. Their works are forceful statements regarding contemporary perceptions of the earth and its resources. This exhibition explores the varying ways in which the earth and its elements interrelate with its inhabitants and how that bond has evolved over time. These artists provide insightful perspectives on the environment and allow the viewer to reflect on the complex relationship between man and nature.