Somewhere

Contemporary Landscape

January 18, 2025 – July 19, 2025

To take an overview of landscape art specifically from a contemporary standpoint is to acknowledge the great influence the 20th century phenomena of industrialization, globalization, and capitalism have had on what “landscape art” actually means today. The depiction of urban landscapes not only represents the changing and shifting environments we live in, but also gives us new perspectives and renewed appreciation for nature in its purest forms. 

Likewise, a contemporary perspective would have to consider the many developments of art-making itself – the innovative methods and materials introduced as a result of technological advancements, as well as the contributions of new abstract and conceptual ideas to current artistic discourses. Just as digital photography, for example, brings a seemingly more realistic view of our environments, poetic and minimal artistic languages offer us creative ways to appreciate the landscape beyond traditional visual means of what Leon Battista Alberti (1404 – 1472) described as “an open window through which the subject to be painted is seen.” (On Painting, 1435)

The title of the exhibition, “Somewhere” is based on this contemporary perspective of what landscape art can be today. Although specific places might inspire them, the “landscapes” created by contemporary artists are more ambiguous and sometimes symbolic. This allows for their depictions to go beyond one place or time and therefore offer an invitation to broader conversations and propositions. The viewer returns to the ultimate destination of an art work, that being the art work itself, its materiality, concepts and historical references, amongst other things that might inspire one’s imagination to create landscapes uniquely their own.