Written by: Tiffany Westry
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David Maisel, The Mining Project (Clifton AZ 7), 1989; pigment print, 2012; 48 x 48 inches; A/P; Image courtesy of the artist; © David MaiselDAVID MAISEL/BLACK MAPS, a solo exhibition surveying four chapters of the American photographer and visual artist’s larger ongoing series titled Black Maps, will be on exhibition at the UAB College of Arts and Sciences' Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts from Aug. 28-Nov. 14.
Featuring 28 large-scale pigment prints from four series created between 1989 and 2007, including selections from The Lake Project, The Mining Project and American Mine, Terminal Mirage, and Oblivion, DAVID MAISEL/BLACK MAPS leads the viewer on a hallucinatory journey through sites in the American West that have been transformed through the physical and environmental effects of industrial-scale water diversion projects, open-pit mineral extraction, human consumption and inhabitation. His work serves as an artistic documentation of the condition of environmental mitigation sites like Owens Lake in California, a natural glacial lake drained in the early twentieth century in order to supply water to the city of Los Angeles, and the environmental consequences of mining on landscapes in other parts of the Western United States.
“David Maisel’s potent and powerful photographs engage audiences with views of human-altered landscapes that are at once magnificent and disconcerting, said AEIVA Director Lisa Tamiris Becker. “Tapping into the psychic and physical landscapes that both haunt and animate our inner and outer worlds, Maisel's work challenges us to consider our relationship to place. It is a great honor to bring this powerful touring exhibition of 28 large-scale works by world-renowned photographer David Maisel to AEIVA so that it can be experienced by Birmingham audiences”
A distinguished photographer, Maisel’s work is collected and exhibited internationally. His photographs are included in many permanent collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Art Gallery, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.
A free opening reception will take place Friday, Aug. 28, from 6-8 p.m. in the AEIVA, 1221 10th Ave. South. The reception will be preceded by a public lecture by David Maisel at 5 p.m. in the Hess Family Lecture Hall.
For more about DAVID MAISEL/BLACK MAPS: American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime, visit AEIVA online.
Admission to AEIVA is always free. AEIVA is open to the public 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12-6 p.m. Saturday and is closed Sundays and holidays.