"Landscapes for Frankenstein" Exhibition

Sara Meltzer Gallery

poster for "Landscapes for Frankenstein" Exhibition

This event has ended.

Sara Meltzer Gallery presents Landscapes for Frankenstein, a group exhibition curated by Rachel Gugelberger and Jeffrey Walkowiak.

Written during the early phase of the Industrial Revolution, Mary Shelley's legendary Frankenstein is widely heralded as an allegory that warned against the destructive consequences of man’s knowledge. At the center of Shelley’s creation myth is Victor Frankenstein, who, horrified by the monstrosity he has created, wanders the globe in remorse. In turn, the nameless monster (known as “Frankenstein” in modern popular culture) travels in search of his creator and a cure for the abjection, alienation and loneliness that has been bestowed upon him. This haunting tale of twin travels reveals not only the destructive potential of man, but also the grandeur of nature -- how it awes the mind, relieves the soul, overwhelms the senses and affects the emotions.

While the natural world is the parallel to the realm of the artificial, these two sides of reality stand in direct conflict. Imagining an appropriate world for the lonely, nameless creature, Landscapes for Frankenstein explores the idea of landscape as a social construction, informed by art history, literature, the media and the human imagination. Whether taking man’s potential for destruction or the tradition of Romantic landscape painting as a point of departure, the artists in Landscapes for Frankenstein transform already-mediated images of natural landscapes into works of photography, painting, sculpture, collage, video and installation that acknowledge their own contrivance and conceptual artifice. Like the Frankenstein monster, natural landscapes are manipulated by man; encompassing the meaningful deformities and defects that only humans could create.

Media

Schedule

from June 19, 2008 to August 01, 2008
Opening Reception: June 19, 6–8 pm.

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