For release March 28,
2011
CONTACT: Tracy Greene
at
817.989.5067
E-mail:
tracy.greene@cartermuseum.org
Or
Jessica Poole at
817.989.5065
E-mail:
jessica.poole@cartermuseum.org
Work
of contemporary photographer Subhankar Banerjee on view at Amon Carter Museum of
American
Art
Downloadable digital
images
at http://www.cartermuseum.org/press/images
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FORT WORTH,
Texas—On May 14, the
Amon Carter Museum of American Art presents the work of contemporary
photographer
Subhankar
Banerjee (b. 1967) in the exhibition Subhankar Banerjee: Where I Live I Hope
to Know.
In
the exhibition, visitors will see 17 large-scale photographs, some displayed
at unusual angles, taken within a 5-mile radius of the artist’s home near
Santa Fe, N.M., from 2006–09. The photographs, which serve
as
poignant hallmarks of the close proximity of global
transformation to the artist’s home, are on
view
through August 28. Admission is free.
During his daily walks
around his community, Banerjee used familiar sights, such as the powerline and
railroad, to direct his path. He began by
photographing
the cholla plant, a hearty cactus species that dots the high-desert landscape.
After carefully studying his photographs, he began to notice how extensively the
cactus is integrated into the region’s thriving ecosystem of birds and
underground life. He
moved
on to making photographs of pińon trees, particularly dead ones, which he
learned form the habitats of a vibrant avian population. Finally, he made
photographs of the New Mexico skies, the prints themselves serving as petitions
for
rain.
Densely visual,
Banerjee’s cacti and tree photographs offer viewers fascinating and subtle
clues about the desert ecosystem. Bird nests are
revealed
in various states of construction, decay and reconstruction; small cavities
appear in the ground where burrowing animals live and seek sustenance from the
root systems above and around them; tiny house finches sit perched in networks
of branches; and
holes
in the trunks of dead trees are revealed as avian homes.
Along with these discoveries,
Banerjee learned that the mature pińon forests of northern New Mexico have been
dramatically reduced in recent years by a
population
explosion of bark beetles, an infestation recognized as an acute symptom of
global
warming.
“This exhibition harmonizes
beautifully with our collection of photographs that reflect on the settlement
and inhabitation of the western United States
from
the nineteenth century to the present,” says Jessica May, associate
curator of photographs. “It’s my hope that the exhibition allows us
to engage in conversation about the relationship of people to western landscapes
and to do so in a way that is fresh
and
revealing.”
Banerjee established his artistic
reputation with his outsized color prints of the Arctic, which beautifully
portray the extraordinary range of wildlife
that
thrives in the globe’s far north. While he is firmly indebted to the
tradition of fine art photography, Banerjee’s sympathies, like those of
Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter before him, are deeply aligned with
preservation.
Subhankar Banerjee: Where I
Live I Hope to Know is organized by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art
and supported in part by a generous grant
from
the Lannan Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Alturas
Foundation. The exhibition is accompanied by a small, limited-edition catalogue
designed to optimally present Banerjee’s large
prints.
In conjunction with the exhibition,
the artist will sign books and speak at
a
free public lecture on Thursday, June 9, at 6 p.m. Because seating is
limited, reservations are required. Please call 817.989.5030 to register. This
program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state
affiliate of the
National
Endowment for the Humanities.
End
Tracy
Greene
Public
Information Officer
Amon
Carter Museum of American
Art
3501
Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107
t.
817.989.5067 f. 817.665.4324
www.cartermuseum.org
