Georgia Museum of Art exhibition examines abstract landscapes

Thursday, September 8, 2022

The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia has opened a new exhibition that brings attention to the power art has to influence our understanding of the environment. Organized by curatorial assistant Kathryn Hill, “Infinity on the Horizon” (open now through December 31, 2022) features modern and contemporary objects in the museum’s permanent collection, including art by Georgia O’Keeffe, Elaine de Kooning and Richard Mayhew.

The exhibition gets its title from O’Keeffe, who wrote, “The unexplainable thing in nature that makes me feel the world is big far beyond my understanding — to understand maybe by trying to put it into form. To find the feeling of infinity on the horizon line or just over the next hill.” “Infinity on the Horizon” underscores how abstraction as an artistic strategy can expand our understanding of the landscapes around us.

The artists in this exhibition have responded to and reinvented the landscape. In the Western tradition, landscape has served as a stage for human action, occupation and authority, but many contemporary and Indigenous artists question these perspectives. The artists in this exhibition transform identifiable elements and visual markers of landscapes. In doing so, they comment on aesthetic, political, social and ecological concerns affecting the environments around us. By examining the infinite approaches of abstraction, this exhibition raises the question: how far can the artist abstract nature before we lose sight of the horizon?

Hill said, “This exhibition presents a wonderful opportunity to advance our understanding of the permanent collection, including many of our newest acquisitions in contemporary art and a number of works that have never been on view here at the Georgia Museum of Art. The exhibition foregrounds female, Black, Indigenous and queer perspectives, which allow the opportunity to consider the visualizations of landscapes beyond the traditionally canonized white, male-centered point of view. The use of abstraction by these artists further investigates the landscape genre as a vehicle for relaying social, political and environmental concerns ranging from Indigenous land stewardship to polluted waterways and the commercialization of natural wonders.”

Related events include:

• a Studio Workshop on Abstract Landscapes (September 8, 15 and 22 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; a $15 materials fee covers all necessary supplies. Registration at gmoa-tours@uga.edu is required.)
• a talk by artist Jennifer Sirey on September 13 at 4 p.m.
• a Family Day on September 17 from 10 a.m. to noon
• a tour by Hill on September 28 at 2 p.m.
• a Student Night on September 29 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. organized by the Georgia Museum of Art Student Association
• an Artful Conversation on October 5 at 2 p.m.
• a Toddler Tuesday on November 8 at 10 a.m. (for ages 18 months to 3 years; free but register by emailing gmoa-tours@uga.edu)
• and a Teen Studio on November 10 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. for ages 13 to 18, with a studio project and free pizza (register by emailing gmoa-tours@uga.edu)

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated. Student Night is sponsored by the UGA Parents Leadership Council. Family Day is sponsored by Lucy and Buddy Allen and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.

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