Zoe Crosher

Feb 19, 01:31 pm

Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, Journeys 1967-2017 opens at The Des Moines Art Center

FEBRUARY 17 – MAY 13, 2018
ANNA K. MEREDITH GALLERY
Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, Journeys 1967 – 2017 is a 50-year survey exhibition that considers the themes of action and exploration outside of the studio and how artists engage this theme in various ways, including walking, cartography, land use, endurance, and the consideration of public space.

For the first time, this exhibition brings together regional, national and international artists that focus on actions in and with the landscape through various practices. No longer separately relegated to “walking” art or “land” art, but including action-based processes, Wanderlust allows viewers to experience 50 years of artistic practices that are intertwined while highlighting diverse approaches to contemporary art. By experiencing the gallery exhibitions and participating in public programs, viewers will gain an understanding of working outside the box. Artwork in the exhibition ranges in medium from drawing, photography, sculpture, installations, film, and video to performance and social practice taking place in both urban and rural landscapes. Taking its name from Rebecca Solnit’s book Wanderlust: A History of Walking, the exhibition will include works that are narrative, political, performative, and conceptual examples of contemporary art. Represented works vary in process—some artists work as solitary figures implanting themselves physically on the landscape while others form actions and create movements in a collaborative manner or in public. The exhibition will not be installed chronologically; historic artworks will be juxtaposed with recent and commissioned artworks that relate to each other through influence from previous decades and artistic intention.

Wanderlust: Actions, Traces, and Journeys 1967 – 2017 is organized by the University at Buffalo Art Galleries, Buffalo, New York and curated by Rachel Adams, UB Art Galleries Senior Curator. The catalogue, published by MIT Press, includes essays by Jane McFadden, Lori Waxman and Rachel Adams. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Generous support for the exhibition and catalogue has also been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support comes from Charles Balbach and the Techne Institute for Arts and Emerging Technologies at the University at Buffalo.