‘Fragile Earth’ comes to BRM

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on August 22, 2022

James Prosek (b. 1975), Invisible Boundaries, 2022, digital print on polyester scrim vinyl, 16' x 27'. Courtesy of the artist and Waqas Wajahat, NY, one of the pieces in Fragile Earth.

Courtney Mattison (b. 1985), Our Changing Seas III (detail), 2014. Glazed stoneware and porcelain, 108 x 156 x 24 in. Courtesy of the artist, a Photograph by Arthur Evans for the Tang Museum

A new exhibit entitled Fragile Earth: The Naturalist Impulse in Contemporary Art is coming to the Brandywine River Museum of Art next month. The museum bills the exhibit as one that reflects “the vulnerability of the environment” and highlights the diverse approaches taken by four leading contemporary American artists whose work engages with environmental themes.

Fragile Earth will include two galleries of works reflecting on the vulnerability of the environment, created in a variety of media by artists Jennifer Angus, Mark Dion, Courtney Mattison, and James Prosek.

Mark Dion (b. 1961), Blood Red Coral, 2013, resin and assorted objects, 33 1/4 x 17 x 9 inches; 84.5 x 43.2 x 22.9 cm. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles

“These artists were selected for the profound message their works convey about environmental conservation,” said Jennifer Stettler Parson, the exhibition’s curator, in a press release. "They transform natural and non-traditional materials, like insects and found debris, into art in order to make visible the human role in global climate change, and to reveal how our daily choices may endanger our planet’s future.”

The exhibit will be on display from Sept. 24 through Jan. 8 and includes a site-specific installation by Angus and a commissioned mural by Prosek that explores the plants and animals native to the Brandywine Valley.