Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Map as Art-Exhibit Opens Tomorrow

The Map as Art opens tomorrow at the Christopher Henry Gallery in New York City. This is a group show curated by Christopher Henry and Katharine Harmon, author of the really great map book "You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination." The show shares its name and accompanies the launch of Harmon's new book. There is an opening reception tomorrow (November 5th) from 6-9 PM.

The gallery is "conveniently located off the Elizabeth Street ramp of the Lower Manhattan Expressway" as illustrated below. Those of you in NYC might actually get the joke.


I did not get any images from the show other than what's on the gallery's site. Below is "Strike Anywhere" by Doug Beube.


Many artists are featured including Joyce Kozloff and Karey Kessler.

Here's a quote from the press release. I'm not sure how much I agree with it but it's an interesting take on mapping.

"In the guise of offering illumination, maps obscure. They purport to bring order to the fundamental chaos of life, promising clarity in the face of flux, and claiming knowledge of the unknowable. In their quest to demarcate our differences, they comfort us even as they give the lie to the notion of common experience."

4 comments:

Michael5000 said...

So, what's the joke then?

Dug said...

Those of us uneducated Philistines from west of the Hudson, who probably don't read every issue of the New Yorker may not get that there is no Lower Manhattan Expressway. Much less an Elizabeth Street Ramp. It's way too dense down there for anything that crazy.

Michael5000 said...

Hey! That's clever! Because it fits the theme and so on!

Emily said...

I loved this exhibit! I wrote a little about it too at www.keep-creating.blogspot.com. I've been drawing imaginary maps for a while so it was fascinating to see what other artists are doing with them.