SPECIAL EVENT (DECEMBER 7th): The Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance is joining "The Art of Stewardship" conversation with David Meixner and Carol Inderieden. David will share how his art led him to join forces with LPLA, Carol will discuss the DNR’s ongoing restoration at Maiden Rock Bluff, and PLA Executive Director, Rylee Main, will share information about LPLA’s overall mission and involvement restoring critical backwaters in Lake Pepin!
Maiden Rock—Swan Vision Gallery is pleased to present its 4th exhibition of the 2019 season with “The Art of Stewardship: Placed-based Engagements by Carol Inderieden and David Meixner”. Opening Saturday, November 9 from 2:00-5:00, the exhibition will be on view from 10:00-5:00, Friday thru Sunday from November 10 through December 21, 2019. Swan Vision is located at W3542 WI-35, Maiden Rock, WI —roughly 1 hour from the Twin Cities metro area— and is made possible by a collaboration with Santosha Center. For more follow Swan Vision on Facebook and Instagram or visit www.swanvision.net
About the exhibition “The Art of Stewardship” features new and recent works by Carol Inderieden and David Meixner—two long-time, eco-conscious residents of the Driftless region, in western Wisconsin. Over the last decade, the artists have independently studied, engaged and photographed two specific sites adjacent to the Eastern shore of Lake Pepin—Inderieden has
documented the restoration of 248 acres above the historic Maiden Rock bluff; while Meixner has photographed the avian species living on the backwaters of Lake Pepin. Both artists have been profoundly influenced by the power and beauty of the Driftless region and are fundamentally committed to its care.
For the exhibition, Carol Inderieden premiers “Maiden Rock Bluff—From Farm to Prairie” a handmade, limited-edition artist book about the restoration of an oak savanna on a historic bluff overlooking Lake Pepin. Culminating a ten-year inquiry for the artist, the book features 20 photogravures that illuminate profound changes made to that landscape and an essay by Inderieden that addresses its social and natural history. The photogravures are based on the artist’s photographs of the land and select historic photographs of the family who farmed the property for nearly a century. Inderieden harkens to the past through the monochromatic aesthetic of photogravure, and her texts read through multiple time frames, unfolding an expansive sense of time. Inderieden also presents a suite of framed prints (from the book) and several powerful panoramic digital prints, depicting different phases of the restoration and evoking the ancient sensibility of the land itself.
David Meixner presents a series of digital color prints of swans, pelicans and other waterfowl, photographed on the back waters of Lake Pepin, at Bay City. Meixner’s extraordinary “eye” for wildlife is enhanced by his love for birds and the river, his patience and his real-life intimacy with his subjects. He lives in their midst and sees them daily in the floodplain sanctuary that he has called home, since 1999. He also sees that the environmental degradation of Lake Pepin is compromising their critical habitat. Meixner shoots at or near water level—from his canoe, kayak or shanty boat that he designed and built especially for photographing wildlife. His pictorial style always yields a birds-eye-view of the world—ranging freely from serene portraits to the flurry of all-over abstractions. Ultimately, Meixner’s images gift us with the feeling of being there—that we, too, are part of the flock.
The works featured in The Art of Stewardship collectively illuminate the stewardship of witness, time, collaboration and the consciousness needed to realign with the natural world. In this age of ecological uncertainty both Inderieden and Meixner show us how to see what’s at stake, so that we too may undertake the work of restoration.
SPECIAL EVENT
December 7th at 4:00p.m.
“The Art of Stewardship”
A conversation with the exhibiting artists and staff from the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance Join us for this special event to view the exhibition with the artists in attendance. Learn from David Meixner how his art practice led him to join forces with the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance (LPLA); from Carol Inderieden about how to get involved with the DNR’s ongoing restoration at Maiden Rock Bluff; and from Rylee Main (Executive Director, LPLA) about the Alliance’s overall mission, as well as its project for restoring critical habitat in the backwaters of Lake Pepin, at Bay City.
About Swan Vision Gallery—Swan Vision presents focused exhibitions of contemporary art curated by Cynde Randall to illuminate the living artists’ take on transformational practice, interbeing and alignment with life on planet Earth. The name ‘swan vision’ is an invitation to see through the eyes of an artist or another species. Swan Vision 2019 exhibitions are scheduled from May through most of December, with four exhibitions presented in collaboration with Santosha Center. Please note: Swan Vision is dark between exhibits. For more follow Swan Vision on Facebook and Instagram or visit www.swanvision.net .
Cynde Randall is best known for her work in the curatorial department (MAEP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where she helped to produce and present myriad exhibitions of contemporary regional art, in a museum context, from 1984-2006; as artistic director of the Minneapolis-based artist collective “Bird x Bird” (2001-10); and her previous gallery in Maiden Rock, called Swan Song Contemporary Arts (2007-12). Randall has written about art for diverse audiences since 1990—serving large institutions, alternative arts spaces and independent artists, alike. (Contact Cynde at cynderandall@centurytel.net or 612-250-9222).
Art captions for header:
Bottom:
Carol Inderieden
Morning Fog, 2012
Duotone digital print on Moab Entrada paper 10.5" x 28"
Top:
David Meixner
Swans and Mallards in the Backwaters, 2019 Digital print