Observations in an Occupied Wilderness

Nevada Museum of Art
160 West Liberty Street
Reno

Terry Falke: Observations in an Occupied Wilderness

August 23, 2008 - January 04, 2009
altered landscape gallery

"Terry Falke’s body of wry, lyrical photographs forms an intimate and idiosyncratic portrait of the American Southwest. By emphasizing the unique beauty of the region’s landscape, Falke makes the incongruous and sometimes amusing artifacts of human presence more apparent. With a sense of humor and a remarkable ability to craft acute cultural and visual connections, his work reveals a paradise altered by human behavior. As personal as they are provocative, the large-format photographs of Observations in an Occupied Wilderness are the record of Falke’s deeply felt experience of the place he calls home.

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."

[text|image from NMA Web site.]

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."]