Curatorial
September/October 2012
Cornish Main Gallery
Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA
"Old ghost ranges, sunken rivers, come again" is a group exhibition featuring contemporary Northwest artists, whose artwork collectively reflects our complicated relationship to the forest. The woods have long been a resource for artists—providing subject matter, refuge, and materials for creative expression. But this landscape is more than something viewed from a distance. The forest is also an interior space, full of mystery, darkness, and potential. As a metaphor for the mind, it suggests that perhaps we are all explorers and gatherers, returning with the fruits (or fouls) from our travels. But as a commodified resource, our forests have helped build the foundation of industrial societies that have in turn, wiped out indigenous ones. This contradiction speaks to our complex relationship with the forest and echos the diversity of themes addressed in the exhibition.
The exhibition features work by Vaughn Bell, Gretchen Bennett, Zack Bent, Matt Browning, Stephen Chalmers, Eirik Johnson, Matthew Offenbacher, Whiting Tennis, Kimberly Trowbridge, Allyce Wood (AR ’10), Peter Scherrer, and Claude Zervas.
Exhibtion Review by Jen Graves for The Stranger
Image: Whiting Tennis