PHOENIX ART MUSEUM

EXPERIENCE THE ART

of our region and beyond

LANDSCAPES OF EXTRACTION | HELEN KATHARINE FORBES

Throughout the 2021–22 season, art lovers of every age and interest will enjoy a diverse lineup of dynamic exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum.

Beginning November 7, the Museum will present Landscapes of Extraction, which examines the evolution of the art of mining in the western United States. With more than 65 works created over a century, the original exhibition showcases a range of paintings and prints that depict regional landscapes of enterprise, while illuminating how mining has altered the natural environment on a spectacular scale. Landscapes of Extraction begins with works from the early- to mid-20th century, when artists such as Lew Davis, Philip C. Curtis, Paul Sample, and Louise Emerson Ronnebeck portrayed regional themes and industries in their work, inspired, in part, by New Deal programs during the 1930s and early 1940s. Contemporary works created into the 2010s by artists such as Edward Burtynsky, David Emitt Adams, Martin Stupich, and Cara Romero instead demonstrate how artists have, over time, become more attuned to the monumental impact that humans, technology, mining, and other industries have had on the natural world.

Visitors will also discover the evocative work of renowned Colombian artist Oscar Muñoz beginning this September. Co-organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art, Oscar Muñoz: Invisibilia is the first U.S. retrospective of the artist’s work and features approximately 50 works that combine photography, drawing, printmaking, installation, video, sculpture, and interactive elements to explore themes of time, history, and knowledge. Rather than presenting works chronologically, Invisibilia is organized into four thematic and overlapping sections that ask viewers to contemplate topics like

memory and amnesia, presence and absence, appearance and disappearance, and cohesion and fragmentation, with many works requiring audience interaction to activate an experience.

Starting November 27, Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka features more than 50 works that explore the history and culture of the island nation now known as Sri Lanka. The majority of works span the 16th to the 19th centuries, with various objects dating to as early as the sixth century to better convey the dramatic stylistic and technical transformations that have occurred in Sri Lankan Buddhist art. In addition to personal and devotional objects from the Buddhist tradition, viewers will experience never-beforeexhibited, black-and-white photographs that capture images of Buddhist ruins and other iconic locations, as well as everyday slices of mid-20th-century Sri Lankan life. The exhibition provides an unprecedented opportunity to experience some of the rarest examples of Sri Lankan art in the United States.

In the spring, Arizona audiences can explore one of the most admired creative expressions in the Southwest—car culture and the modifications of all rides—in Desert Rider. The original exhibition will feature art related to cars, bicycles, motorcycles, skateboards, and saddles, while spotlighting Latinx and Indigenous artists who re-create, transform, and subvert rides.

With these singular exhibitions shown alongside newly installed galleries featuring European, Latin American, Asian, American, and modern and contemporary artworks and fashion designs from the Museum’s collection, Arizona audiences are sure to experience the extraordinary at Phoenix Art Museum.

Landscapes of Extraction – On view from November 7, 2021 – March 6, 2022. Oscar Muñoz: Invisibilia – On view from September 11, 2021 – January 16, 2022. Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka – On view from November 27, 2021 – April 24, 2022. Desert Rider – On view from April 23 – September 18, 2022. Special-engagement exhibitions are free for Museum Members and included with general admission.

For more information, visit phxart.org or call (602) 257-1880.

INVISIBILIA | OSCAR MUÑOZ