ANTHROPOCENE OUTPOST: STORIES OF THE FUTUREArtworks by Zachary Skinner
Rockland Center for the Arts
March 8 – April 19, 2020
Opening Reception: Sun, March 8, 2:00-5:00pm
Free to the Public
Anthropocene Outpost presents depictions of human encounters with a
damaged post-industrial landscape. Zachary Skinner exhibits a
selection of paintings and sculptures that depict the dystopian point
of view of a nomadic lifestyle while roaming an
environmentally-ravaged Earth. He documents the fictional journey of a
sojourner of this new world who has evolved a more symbiotic
connection to the ruined landscape, and the accompanying encounters
along the way.
The nomad’s story is humanity’s future story. Its source material
is based on current scientific findings about our present-day Earth
and the impending threats to our existence from the effects of
unbridled Climate Change. Skinner’s work reflects his interest in
the increasingly violent weather caused by our warming Climate Change,
geoengineering, and the Anthropocene landscape.
Skinner devises a vision of a nomadic survival shelter/meditation hut,
with live plants cultivated by imaginative techniques. Solar power is
generated through gallery windows. The neo-medieval machine blurs the
line between artist, geoengineer, and backyard tinkerer. The purpose
of these works is to usefully promote survival, such as reflecting
sunlight, capturing solar and wind energy, and collecting water. They
also evoke outdoor leisure activities, and the nomadic survivalist
lifestyle. The created space contemplates our own interdependence (or
lack of) with the land.
Paintings depict scenarios of daily life in a post-damaged landscape,
where simplified technologies are used to interact with the elements.
In grappling with the relevance of the modern landscape, Skinner’s
works flow freely between authenticity and parody, toying with
fetishized forms and flatness, contrasting the romantic sublime and
the post-apocalyptic, invention and destruction.
Skinner’s paintings are grounded in scientific realities about our
present-day environment and impending threats to our existence on
Earth. The boundary between our real space and this illusory world is
blurred. His primary concerns are the need to confront Climate Change,
the polluting of our land, resource wars and the displacement of
disenfranchised peoples and whole ecosystems in the name of progress.
He confronts these serious ecological issues with humor and
playfulness. Using camping as an indirect inspiration, he invokes one
of the last cultural rituals to request us to bring only what we need,
cultivate self-reliance, and promote a stewardship of the shared
wilderness.
Skinner has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Matteawan Gallery,
Beacon, NY; Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, IL; and Onondaga Community
College Syracuse, NY. He has also exhibited at the Theo Ganz Studio
Gallery, Beacon, NY; Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL; The Great
Room, New York University, NY; and Tibet House US Gallery, New York,
NY. He has been awarded residencies at Jentel Artist Residency Program
Banner, WY; I-Park Artists Residency, East Haddam, CT; and Saltonstall
Foundation for the Arts, Ithaca, NY.
We invite you to join us for an Artist’s Opening Reception on
Sunday, March 8th, 2:00-5:00pm. ANTHROPOCENE OUTPOST IS ON VIEW MARCH
8 – April 19, 2020. Opening the same day are EXHIBITS: Perspectives
, art focusing on the cultural identity and autobiographical
storytelling by and You Are Here, artists visually representing an
aspect of their life STORIES. Free to the general public. For more
information contact: ROCKLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 845-358-0877,
info@rocklandartcenter.org or visit www.rocklandartcenter.org.
Rockland Center for the Arts is located at 27 S Greenbush Rd., West
Nyack, NY 10994. Gallery hours are: Mon-Fri 10-4; Sat and Sun
1-4pm.
RoCA gratefully acknowledges support for its programs from M&T Bank,
Orange & Rockland Utilities, Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman P.C.,
Sterling National Bank, the Rea Charitable Trust, Crystal Run
Healthcare, Rockland County Tourism, the Estate of Joan Konner,
Lighting Services Inc., Sarah and Stephen Thomas, the Mark and Jessie
Milano Foundation, Zaklin Family Charitable Fund, The County of
Rockland, The Family Fjord Foundation, Simona and Jerome Chazen, ASG,
RoCA members, donors and business members.
RoCA’s programs are made possible, in part, with funds from the New
York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew
Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Funding is also made
possible by the County of Rockland.
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20/04/2020 Last update