“Assembly: Syracuse University Voices on Art and Ecology,” at the Syracuse University Art Museum, has an eclectic portfolio of artworks that look at ecology from varied perspectives. This is a broad-based exhibition with media ranging from painting and photographs to digital video and lithographs.
The roster of artists is definitely diverse; they include members of the SU faculty and recent graduates as well as artists with work in the university’s permanent collection. Artworks by Salvador Dali, photographer Berenice Abbot, and Grant Wood, creator of “American Gothic, ” were all selected from the collection.
Various works explore ecology in depth, as they consider how people connect to the natural world. Ultimately, the show rejects the notion of ecology consisting solely of pristine rivers and immaculate forests, totally separate from humans. Instead, “Assembly” suggests that people are part of a system of ecology and that it’s time to move on to an ecology of engagement and intimacy.
That might sound a little abstract, but the exhibit is far from abstract. It’s concrete and visually dynamic.
For example, the show has several artworks referencing Onondaga Lake. Deborah Dohne, who teaches at SU, has made dozens of visits to the local landmark; she’s doing a long-term, interdisciplinary project on Onondaga Lake. The current exhibition presents her lithograph depicting birds and a table display of a turtle shell, porcelain shards, a vintage lantern and native seeds and plants.
There are also porcelain sculptures by Edward Marshall Boehm portraying two young bald eagles. The return of bald eagles to Onondaga Lake is a significant development in local ecology.
A third artist, Brandon Lazore, has created an oil work focusing on the central role of the lake in Haudenosaunee culture. This is where warring nations met centuries ago to found the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and symbolically bury weapons.
Lazore’s elaborate painting incorporates the Tree of Peace; clan mothers and their influence on participants in the women’s suffrage movement; imagery relating to Haudenosaunee political concepts and their link to the evolution of democracy.
Beyond that, the show displays works expressing divergent perspectives. “View from West Point,” a painting done by William Louis Sontagg Jr. during the 1860s, presents an idealized landscape. Viewers see greenery, a sunny sky, water with scarcely a ripple, no sign of humanity except for tiny figures, three men in a boat. There’s no indication of pollution or littering.
A different perspective emerges in “Snook’s Pond Oil Tank Takes Off,” an oil on panel which shows a tank literally being expelled from the earth into the sky. At first glance, this looks like an exercise in absurdist humor, but that’s not the thrust of this artwork.
The painter Sarah McCoubrey, who teaches at the university, is offering an interesting proposition: What if a landscape had the power to alter itself? That, in turn, stimulates discussion of people’s relationship to land.
Other pieces document the ways in which contemporary artists touch on ecology. In “Matrilineal Thread,” Katlyn Brumfield has strung magnolia leaves on thread, on top of a table. Her work is based on Appalachian folkways, on how environmental decay has affected the cultural identity of that region.
That’s just one of several artworks focusing directly on humans and ecology. Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris run the Canary Lab at SU which takes a research-based approach to art and media dealing with ecology. They created “Somebody’s Blanket,” a large C-print depicting a blanket draped over a stone ledge, under a bridge. The work strongly suggests that this is where someone without a permanent home stays.
And “Assembly” displays a striking image by Doug Dubois who’s taught at SU for decades. The photo depicts Tracy, a woman he first met when he was photographing Avella, a small town in Pennsylvania where his father grew up. Avella is a coal town which fell into economic and social distress when the coal mines closed.
The artist reconnected with Tracy who had moved to the Central Valley region of California. There a scarcity of water is having a negative impact on agriculture and the local economy. Dubois isn’t concerned solely with socio-economic changes. His photo portrays Tracy with her dog, as she raises a hand to ward off the sun.
Elsewhere, look for works from “Human-Coral Hybrids,” a series created by Tamika Galanis, a multi-media artist who teaches at SU. These are 3D printed sculptural objects which feature faces and coral crowns.
Galanis, who grew up in the Bahamas, is deeply concerned about the effects of climate changes on her homeland. She contrasts the view of the Caribbean as a tourist paradise with alternative realities: the very real threat of the climate crisis; the Bahamian workforce which makes it possible for hotels and restaurants to operate.
Finally, the exhibition encompasses a variety of other artworks such as Grant Wood’s lithograph depicting rolling hills in the Midwest and Warren Kimble’s acrylic on wood panel portraying a farmhouse and a quilt hanging from a clothesline.
“Assembly” also references Sam Van Aken’s work to preserve endangered fruit species. He’s an SU assistant professor who’s planted trees on campus and elsewhere, and a visual artist, the creator of series such as “Tree of 40 Fruit” and “Open Orchard.”
The exhibit is large and timely, and the SU Art Museum has scheduled several events in conjunction with it. On February 22, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., teaching guides developed by the Art and Ecology Project will be distributed. From 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., there will be a gallery reception. When the reception ends, Timothy Morton, a professor at Rice University, will talk about living in an era of ecological crisis. He will speak in Shemin Auditorium just down the hallway from the gallery.
The February 22 events are free and open to the public. They will take place in the Shaffer Art Building, on the Syracuse University quad.
“Assembly” runs at the SU Art Museum through May 12. The venue is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays , and from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 315-443-4097.
Correction: This story originally referred to the artist who created “Matrilineal Thread” as Kathryn Brumfield. The artist’s name is Katlyn Brumfield. Central Current regrets this error.
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