VANISHING ICE: ALPINE AND POLAR LANDSCAPES IN ART 1775-2012

Len Jenshel
American
Narsaq Sound, Greenland C-print, 26 x 30 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla

November 3, 2013 – March 16, 2014; Lightcatcher building

Curated by Barbara Matilsky

Vanishing Ice introduces the rich artistic legacy of the planet’s frozen frontiers now threatened by climate change, a phenomena understood by the public primarily through news of devastating climactic events. The exhibition offers another perspective by providing visitors an opportunity to experience the majesty of sublime landscapes that have inspired artists, writers, and naturalists for more than two hundred years.

Interweaving science, history and art, and highlighting their historical interrelationships, the exhibition encourages audiences to value the preservation of alpine and polar environments for the wellbeing of both nature and culture. Through this exhibition, visitors will begin to appreciate how strongly embedded these regions are in our collective consciousness.

Comprised of 70 works of art, Vanishing Ice will unfold thematically and chronologically, tracing the visual impact of glaciers, icebergs, and fields of ice — unique and often fantastic formations — on artists’ imaginations.

International in scope, the exhibition features artists from Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russia, Switzerland, and the United States. It will examine the connections among generations of artists as they sought to understand and interpret the color, light, and structure of ice. Through their magical landscapes, visitors will vicariously experience the blue-green hues and extraordinary shapes of another world.

Read the entire curatorial narrative.

View the Vanishing Ice Catalogue.

Presented by:

National Endowment for the Arts

Supported by

The Norcliffe Foundation

: William Bradford American, 1823 – 1892 Caught in the Ice Floes, ca. 1867 Oil on canvas 37 1/2 x 55 1/4 inches (Framed)

: Len Jenshel American Narsaq Sound, Greenland C-print, 26 x 30 inches Courtesy of the artist and Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla

: Lawren Harris Canadian, 1885 – 1970 Isolation Peak, Rocky Mountains, 1930 Oil on canvas

: Frank Hurley Australian, 1882-1962 Endurance trapped in the ice at night, 1915 Black and white photograph

: Rockwell Kent American, 1882-1971\ Resurrection Bay, Alaska, c. 1939 Oil on fabric on board

: Paul Miller (DJ Spooky) Manifesto for a People’s Republic Of Antarctica, digital inkjet print 36 x 48 inches

: Alexis Rockman Adelies, 2008 Oil on wood 68 x 80 inches

: Olaf Otto Becker German, born 1959 River 2, 07, from Above Zero 2008 Position 1, Greenland Icecap, Melting area, Altitude 931m

: Francois-Auguste Biard French, 1799 – 1882 Pêche au morse par des Groënlandais, vue de l’Océan Glacial (Greenlanders Hunting Walrus: View of the Polar Sea) , Salon of 1841 Oil on canvas