Infra (Structure) at the Lannan Foundation Gallery
COMPLEX FRAMEWORK: INFRA STRUCTURE AT LANNAN FOUNDATION GALLERY
A vast earthwork, a scratched-Plexiglas image of Trinity Site, and a drawing more than 18 feet long of a Minnesota city are among the pieces featured in (Infra) Structure: complex, below and further on, opening at the Lannan Foundation Gallery on Saturday, July 16.
“I think earth is the material with the most potential because it is the original source material,” said land artist Michael Heizer. His massive City sculpture, underway (in part via Lannan grants) since the 1970s in the Nevada desert, is inspired by the ancient Maya cities and by the Native American mound builders. It is a sprawling, elegant symphony of lines, truncated pyramids, and other forms constructed mostly of earth. On view at (Infra) Structure is a 2008 aerial photograph of the project from Lannan’s collection.
Another photo, titled Lux: Metropolis 35° 10’N 136° 50’E (Nagoya), is from a series Christina Seely has done focusing on some of the world’s most brightly lit cities, as identified in NASA images. This piece exemplifies the exhibition strategy: “Looking at the ways in which artists take structural foundations and record, rearrange, or imagine them anew,
(Infra) Structure reminds us of all the wondrous possibilities of human ingenuity.”
Ghost towns, pilgrimage sites, and other places pregnant with history and meaning have fascinated artist Joanne Lefrak. According to Lefrak, her image of Trinity Site, the New Mexico location of the first atomic bomb test on July 16, 1945, shows “a kind of a physically ‘empty’ landscape yet completely not empty at the same time when considered within the context of our historical and current collective ideas of war.” Her mediums are scratched Plexiglas and shadow.
Sculptor Siah Armajani, a resident of the United States since departing his native Iran in 1960 during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, produced the drawing Written Minneapolis (The Last Tomb) in 2014. Intended as a tribute both to his native Tehran and his adopted hometown, the drawing was done with felt pen on Mylar — 36 inches high by 222 inches long — and Armajani added an enormous quantity of tightly written Persian text as shading.
In all, works by 14 artists are shown in (Infra) Structure. An opening reception is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, and the exhibition hangs through Aug. 29. The Lannan Foundation Gallery (309 Read St.) is open noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, or by appointment. Call 505-954-5149 for more information. — Paul Weideman