New Mexico Museum of Art

Waterscapes: Photographs from the Collection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 06, 2012

MEDIA CONTACT


Waterscapes: Photographs from the Collection

(Santa Fe, NM)—Water, its scarcity or abundance and our relation to this substance which sustains life, is the theme of this photography exhibition. Waterscapes follows on last year’s exhibition of cloud photographs, both drawn from the New Mexico Museum of Art’s permanent collection by Curator of Photography Katherine Ware. The exhibition remains open through August 26, 2012.

The selection of more than thirty photographs showcases the museum’s strong holding of work by mid-century masters such as Ansel Adams, Harry Callahan, Laura Gilpin, Lisette Model, Eliot Porter, and Brett Weston as well as contemporary artists including Renate Aller, Debra Bloomfield, Wanda Hammerbeck, John Pfahl, and Edward Ranney.

Water in its many forms—the sea, rivers, rain—has long been a favorite subject of poets and painters. This show highlights the work of photographers who have been inspired by this substance that sustains us.

Photographs in the exhibition range from Ansel Adams’s dramatic black-and-white photograph of Bridalveil Fall, the famous cataract in Yosemite National Park, to Albuquerque photographer Miguel Gandert’s image of kids cooling off in a fountain at First Plaza in Albuquerque. Lisette Model’s famous image of a delighted bather at Coney Island Beach represents the joyous side of human interactions with water, while David Ondrik’s photograph Please Add Water—a view of the marina at Elephant Butte Lake—emphasizes a more complicated aspect of that relationship.

Many of the photographs were shot in New Mexico, an arid state in which water has long been considered a particularly precious resource. Photographs made in New Mexico include those by Debra Bloomfield, Miguel Gandert, Laura Gilpin, Paul Logsdon, David Ondrik, Mary Peck, and Edward Ranney.

High resolution exhibition images may be downloaded here from the Museum of New Mexico Media Center.

Media Contacts:

Katherine Ware, Curator of Photography

505-476-5088

Kate.ware@state.nm.us

 

Steve Cantrell, PR Manager

505-476-1144

Steve.cantrell@state.nm.us

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The New Mexico Museum of Art was founded in 1917 as the Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico. Housed in a spectacular Pueblo Revival building designed by I. H. and William M. Rapp, it was based on their New Mexico building at the Panama-California Exposition (1915). The museum's architecture inaugurated what has come to be known as "Santa Fe Style." For nearly 100 years, the Museum has celebrated the diversity of the visual arts and the legacy of New Mexico as a cultural crossroads by collecting and exhibiting work by leading artists from New Mexico and elsewhere. This tradition continues today with a wide-array of exhibitions with work from the world’s leading artists. The New Mexico Museum of Art brings the art of New Mexico to the world and the art of the world to New Mexico.

The New Mexico Museum of Art is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

Information for the Public 

Location: Santa Fe’s Plaza at 107 West Palace Avenue

Information:  505-476-5072 or visit www.nmartmuseum.org

Days/Times: Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.  Open Free on Fridays, 5:00-8:00 p.m.. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day the Museum is open 7 days a week, including Mondays

Admission: Adult single-museum admission is $6 for New Mexico residents, $9 for nonresidents; OR $15 for one-day pass to two museums of your choice (Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, and Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum) OR $20 four-day pass to the four museums listed above. Youth 16 and under, Foundation Members, and New Mexico Veterans with 50% or more disability always free. Sundays: New Mexico residents with ID are admitted free, Students with ID receive a $1 discount. Wednesdays: New Mexico resident seniors (60+) with ID are free.


Related Photos

August 2007
Rio Grande, Taos, New Mexico (from the series Four Corners)
Mirror Lake, Yosemite
Please Add Water
Yeso, New Mexico

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