Indestructible Wonder

http://sjmusart.org/exhibition/indestructible-wonder

The San Jose Museum of Art will explore the precarious relationship between nature and humanity in the exhibition Indestructible Wonder. Drawn primarily from SJMA’s permanent collection, the exhibition includes works by artists who observe and reflect on the natural world as well as those who document humanity’s impact on the environment. Indestructible Wonder marks the debut of an important new work acquired by SJMA earlier this year: Untitled (Butterfly Videowall #2) (2008) by Diana Thater. For Untitled (Butterfly Videowall #2), Thater filmed monarch butterflies as they rested on the ground at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico, where millions of monarchs hibernate after their long migration from Canada. The footage of a single butterfly appears on five upturned monitors on the gallery floor.

SJMA has commissioned Oakland artist Evan Holm to create a new work especially for the exhibition. WaterTable (2016) is a 24-foot long table made of manzanita branches and other materials. The table is filled with water, in which the stripped-down elements of an audiotape player are partially submerged. As the piece plays recorded instrumental music, duckweed floats on the surface of the water in currents created by the turning spools.

Works by Lisa Adams, Anne Appleby, Chester Arnold, Ruth Asawa, Sandow Birk, Val Britton, Edward Burtynsky, Chris Jordan, Amy Kaufman, Mayme Kratz, Danae Mattes, Richard Misrach, Judy Pfaff Nathan Redwood, Sam Richardson, Alyson Shotz, Kathryn Spence, Kristen Stolle, and Gail Wight will also be on view.