VIRTUAL EXHIBITIONS
Lay of the LAND: Interpretations of SCAPES
This exhibition was organized by the graduate and undergraduate students of the 2020 Curatorial Practicum course at the University of Denver.
Lay of the Land exhibition was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and solely lives here as a virtual exhibition.
Whether through a delicate silk scroll or thickly applied oil paint on canvas, landscapes have been a foundational genre for artists and viewers for centuries. This constant presence has made it easy to overlook the depth and breadth in depicting and relating to landscapes. Curated by University of Denver undergraduate and graduate students, featuring works from the Madden and University of Denver Art Collections, Lay of the LAND: Interpretations of SCAPES reaffirms landscape as vast and variable, rather than stagnant and contained.
Across five sections, landscapes will be presented, examined, and sometimes challenged. Variations in “traditional” depictions, abstraction, physical changes through topography or season and human engagement with land thematically explore transitions across time, media, culture, and style. Highlights of the exhibition include Hung Liu’s Mountain Ghost (2014), Chen Chi’s A Man Walking in Snow (1977), Andy Warhol’s Camouflage (1987), Earl Biss’ Big Sky (1987), Raymond Knaub’s Summer Water Hole, Sand Hills, Nebraska (2009), and Guy Péne du Bois’ Crossroads. As a whole, the exhibition broadens landscape art to encompass multiple horizons.
Curated by University of Denver students: Kit Bernal, Miyo Fukuzawa, Megan Gannon, Celia Haims, Marianne Hughes, Karissa Johnson, Savannah Kirksey, Eden Leal, Courtney Lindy, Annie Petty, Danielle Reisman. Program Director + Instructor: Nicole A. Parks.
Tracing Traditions
By demonstrating the origins and respective traditions of landscape painting, including both Western and Non-Western aesthetics, these artworks serve as a point of reference for the historical foundation of artistic landscapes.
Altered Scapes
The artist's job is one of expression and communication. Engagement with the land can provoke a variety of emotional reactions—artists explore these experiences with abstract uses of color, shape, and subject.
Sensational Seasons
The artworks in this section demonstrate how artists create illusions of seasonal variation, which allows us to connect with emotions, events, and nostalgia that we associate with specific times of the year.
Contours in Perspective
This section prompts us to interrogate our perspectives, of how we view land and its beauty, and of how we can understand our perspectives to not only be about the land but about the concept beauty itself.
Land Marks
Humans and landscapes are inextricably linked. In turn, landscapes’ climate and natural phenomena and personal and cultural symbolism affect humans. The works in this section ultimately reflect the artistic and physical agency of both humans and landscapes, each acting on the other.