Don’t miss ‘Eco Byway’ exhibit

As promised in my previous post, I will offer my reflections on selected works now on exhibit in galleries at the College of Saint Benedict from the juried art show “Eco Byway.”

Since my purpose is to generate interest in and conversation about the exhibit, I first want to share a response to my previous post about the exhibit at Saint John’s University. Sarah Gainey, assistant director and environmental education coordinator, Saint John’s Arboretum, visited the exhibit July 20 and had this to say:

“I visited the gallery today with a few coworkers, not only as an excuse to do something inside an air conditioned building but to celebrate local artists. I also was most struck by Kenneth Steinbach's pieces, specifically his buckthorn words and the moose antler. However, I was intrigued by the words, as they immediately put a smile on my face as I walked in. Probably because both I've spent hours fighting buckthorn myself and because the statement is so simple but true.

“The moose antler was the piece I pondered the most. The intersection of social and natural systems is what I teach about and the piece demonstrated that beautifully. I wish for a smaller replica I could wear around my neck while teaching.

“Thanks Glenda for the encouragement to get out and see the exhibit!”

I love the way Sarah connects personally with the exhibit. Now I hope to encourage readers to see the exhibit at CSB. Beginning in the Gorecki Gallery Lounge in the Benedicta Arts Center, let’s take a walk alongside a series of untitled black and white digital prints and see what Berel Lutsky sees during a daily commute.

The images capture fleeting glimpses of passing landscape. A blurriness caused by the commuter’s motion lends a dreamlike quality but it also signals how we viewers, in our contemporary rush to get somewhere, seldom slow down to notice what is right before our eyes. In contrast, two prints bring into clear-eyed focus a variety of industrial structures imposed on the landscape – smokestack, elevated storage tanks, power lines – the sort of humdrum detail we often “photoshop” out of our roadside view. One of these, a silhouette of three elevated storage tanks, looks like Martian spaceships have arrived to take inventory of the passing traffic. Are we the aliens in our own landscape?

I am an optimist, both by nature and by choice, and so I responded to the playfulness and restrained sense of hope among some of the works in the Gorecki Gallery.

Julie Ganser received the Audience Choice Award among the CSB works. In her “Bubble Garden,” sheets of bubble wrap encase synthetic leaves and blossoms inside individual bubbles. It’s an eye-grabber that demands attention both to the tiny details and to the dramatic, overall effect.

“Bitter Pill,” a vivid green and white plastic capsule dominates the gallery floor and evokes both whimsy and a warning. Bart Vargas has attached plastic bottles upside down to cover the surface of a cardboard globe. The result is deceptively playful. Vargas hopes to draw attention to the poisons produced by “the manufacturing processes of plastics used in food production.”

Finally, there is hope in the expressions of pioneer urban farmers who have reclaimed abandoned lots among the ruins of Detroit neighborhoods. Daniel Farnum’s photos document their entrepreneurial spirit. His work received the award for Most Innovative Social Impact Imagery.

Venture upstairs at the Gorecki Conference Center to consider an exhibit of several small pieces. “Road Trip,” Barbara Riegel Bend’s paper mache figure on wheels, recycles newspaper, paper bags, old checks and pay stubs to fashion a story about major events in the artist’s life. While the story focuses on the artist’s past, the figure is clearly headed for new adventure. Another paper mache, Suki Zellgart’s “The Heart of the Matter,” conveys the fragility of the earth in a heart-shaped globe. The novel idea of the earth as a vital organ leads me to new and different ways of seeing our world.

Eco Byway runs through Sept. 10. Check it out and send me your thoughts.