Synopses & Reviews
British conceptual and landscape artist Chris Drury has been lauded for his many installations and site-specific works that investigate themes related to the environment and emphasize cycles of destruction and regeneration in nature and the ways that humans affect these processes. In Mushrooms|Clouds, a series of artworks commissioned by the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno, Drury brought an international perspective to topics ranging from land and water appropriation to nuclear testing in the American West. In many of these works, Drury utilizes materials collected from such places as Pyramid Lake, Donner State Park, and the Nevada Test Site to engage viewers in the many connections between art and the environment.
This companion volume to the exhibition documents Drurys installations and captures his ephemeral work for further viewing and extended study. In addition, the book includes an introduction by art historian Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe and an essay by Colin Robertson, the Nevada Museum of Art Curator of Education, which expound upon the themes and significance of Drurys art.
About the Author
Ann M. Wolfe is curator of Exhibitions and Collections at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno. She previously served as an assistant curator at the San Jose Museum of Art, where she curated Sandow Birks Divine Comedy and coauthored with Lindsey M. Wylie Selections: The San Jose Museum of Art Permanent Collection. She is also the author of Suburban Escape: The Art of California Sprawl, published by the Center for American Places.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
David B. Walker
Life, Death, and Transformation
Chris Drury
Mushrooms|Clouds
Ann M. Wolfe
Stone Mother
Told by Ralph Burns
Chris Drury: Toward an Ecological Conscience in Environmental Art
Colin M. Robertson
The Coyote and the Stars
Told by Ralph Burns
From Finger Paint to Frenchman Flat: A Scientist Reflects
Lynn F. Fenstermaker
Shelters of Exposure: Giving Form to Interdisciplinary Exchange
Jamie Kruse and Elizabeth Ellsworth
Notes on the Text
Artists Biography
Compiled by Miriam Stanton
Works in the Exhibition
Additional Reading
Compiled by Miriam Stanton
About the Editor and Contributing Authors