Earth Work

Nevada Museum of Art
EARTH WORK: Mark Ruwedel
May 10, 2008 - August 17, 2008
altered landscape gallery

"This exhibition, featuring black-and-white photographs by Southern California-based photographer Mark Ruwedel, explores the different ways that humans have made marks on the surface of the earth. By juxtaposing images of large-scale Earthworks such as Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty with documentary photographs of historic railroad cuts made in mountain ranges throughout the American West, Ruwedel speculates that human alterations to the landscape have been driven by a range of creative and commercial intentions.

This exhibition is presented as part of the NMA's Art + Environment series, an initiative that brings community, artists, and scholars together to explore the interaction between people and their environments."

[image from NMA Web site. Caption: "Mark Ruwedel, Robert Smithson Spiral Jetty I, 1970, Gelatin silverprint, 1994. Loan courtesy of the artist."]