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New Mexico Landscapes

On view at Albuquerque Museum September 3, 2022–March 19, 2023. "New Mexico Landscapes" is an exhibition of works that reflect a sense of place that is sometimes beautiful and sometimes a site of violent histories. These works on paper from the Museum's permanent collection encapsulate a variety of artistic approaches to depicting the land, including realistic representations, abstract compositions, imaginative interpretations, and an acknowledgment of history shaped by layers of colonization.

Jerry West, born 1933 Santa Fe, New Mexico; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico, A Prairie Dream, 1981, acrylic on paper, Albuquerque Museum, gift of Ray Graham, PC2020.8.50

Jerry West, born 1933 Santa Fe, New Mexico; lives Santa Fe, New Mexico, A Prairie Dream from the series A Prairie Night, 1981, acrylic on paper, gift of Ray Graham, PC2020.8.50 Mexico

 

On view September 3, 2022–March 19, 2023

Ernest Knee, 1907 Montréal, Canada – 1982 Santa Fe, New Mexico, Church, LaManga, New Mexico, 1941, gelatin silver print, Albuquerque Museum, gift of Rosser Knee, PC2021.12.21

Ernest Knee, 1907 Montréal, Canada – 1982 Santa Fe, New Mexico, Church, LaManga, New Mexico, 1941, gelatin silver print, Albuquerque Museum, gift of Rosser Knee, PC2021.12.21

 

 

The natural features and landscapes of New Mexico are some of the most varied and unique places in the United States. Blue skies and vast open spaces sometimes inhabited by mountains, deserts, forests, or rivers have long attracted the gaze of artists. New Mexico Landscapes features works on paper that encapsulate a variety of artistic approaches to depicting the land. Realistic representations, abstract compositions, imaginative interpretations, and an acknowledgement of history shaped by layers of colonization, are some of the ways in which artists in this exhibition communicate their relationships with the land.

New Mexico Landscapes features a range of mediums including photography, prints, watercolors, paintings, and collage. The exhibition includes works by Jaune Quick-to-see Smith, Howard Cook, Ernest Knee, Dan Namingha, Eliot Porter, Jerry West, Felice Lucero and more. The artworks included explore how a place can be felt and experienced through visual depictions. The diverse works incorporate plant life, landforms, architecture and references to human relationships to the land and each other.

Artists’ connections to history as well as their lived experiences inform how they see the land, and thus how they make art. New Mexico Landscapes includes works that demonstrate how multi-faceted New Mexico is and how creative modes of making reflect a sense of place that is sometimes beautiful and sometimes a site of violent histories. While the stories of these lands are complex many of the artists are also conveying a sense of querencia—the place where one's strength is drawn from; where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self.

 

Details subject to change.