M i d - M a n h a t t a n L i b r a r y

Presents

Ecology

A video screening and conversation presented in cooperation with

art:21

ART IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Season Four

Ursula von Rydingsvard interview by Martin Friedman

Artists: Robert Adams, Mark Dion,

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Ursula von Rydingsvard

Monday, February 4 ^th , 2008

6:30 p.m. on the 6 ^th floor

Mid-Manhattan Library

The New York Public Library

40 th   Street and 5 th   Avenue

New York , NY 10016

212-340-0871

How does our culture influence and affect our understanding of the natural world? Ecology delves into the work of four artists who explore the relationship of nature and culture, including the submission of wilderness to civilization, the foundations of scientific knowledge, the impact of technology on biology, and our relationship to the earth forged by working the land. This episode was shot on location in New York , NY ; Los Angeles , CA ; Chicago , IL ; Rochester , MN ; Seattle , WA ; Astoria , OR ; Cape Disappointment , WA ; King County , WA ; Beach Lake , PA ; and Williamstown , MA . After the screening Martin Friedman, Curator, Writer, and Director Emeritus of the Walker Art Center , will join Ursula von Rydingsvard for a conversation and Q&A session.

Robert Adams, working closely with his wife, created Turning Back (1999-2003), which illustrates deforestation in the West, a practice that Adams describes as “not just a matter of exhaustion of resources. I do think there is involved an exhaustion of spirit.”   

Mark Dion explains, “I’m not one of these artists who is spending a lot of time imagining a better ecological future. I’m more the kind of artist who is holding up a mirror to the present.” Viewers follow him on a journey during which he brings a “nurse log”—a fallen Hemlock tree which is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna—into the heart of Seattle .

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle ’s interest in architecture, politics, and science underscores much of his work. His various exhibitions are featured in the documentary including Random Sky (2006) façade in Chicago , for which computers process weather data at the installation site to generate a visual representation of climate conditions.

Ursula von Rydingsvard uses sculptures as a means to express the memories of her childhood.   Her studio is filled with massive cedar sculptures, which she painstakingly constructs layer by layer. The end result is a complex and unpredictable surface for viewers to explore and experience.

Martin Friedman , Director Emeritus of the Walker Art Center , has lived and worked in New York since 1990. During his more than thirty-year tenure at the Walker , he built a major collection of paintings and sculptures, created the world-renowned Minneapolis Sculpture Garden adjacent to the museum, and originated numerous exhibitions of contemporary art. He has written extensively about contemporary art and artists, largely in connection with exhibitions organized by the museum.   They range from early-twentieth century artistic manifestations to recent works by young artists. Among the exhibitions were masterworks from the Musee Picasso; comprehensive presentations of sculptures by Isamu Noguchi, Claes Oldenburg, and George Segal; and designs for the stage by David Hockney. Since 1990, Friedman has served as a guest curator and advisor to a number of art museums, among them the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; the National Gallery or Art; the Denver Art Museum , and the American Center , Paris . He was a board member of Socartes Park , Long Island City , and is an advisor to the Madison Square Park Conservancy for its sculpture program. His interest in recent art and artists remains strong, and among his most recent writings have been pieces on the sculptures of Ursula von Rydingsvard. In 2005, Friedman’s book Close Reading: Chuck Close and the Art of the Self-Portrait was published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Elevators access the 6th floor after 6p.m.

All events are FREE and subject to last minute change or cancellation.