Exhibit opens Saturday, March 9, with reception 5 – 7 p.m.
Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, a subsidiary of Clarkson University, will showcase the photographs of Robin Dana in her exhibit Watershed: How Industry Has Changed the Water of the World. The exhibit runs from March 9 through Oct. 7 at the Beacon Institute Gallery at 199 Main St. in Beacon. The Institute will celebrate the new exhibit with a free public reception for the artist on Saturday, March 9, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Watershed is a vivid collection of images from the Hudson, Potomac and other watersheds around the world. Dana’s work reflects the scarification of the contemporary landscape, portrayed through large-format photography. Heavily influenced by her travels to Cuba, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Russia and Italy, Dana’s photographs document nature’s persistence in extreme conditions.
“Travel has confirmed my premise that water universally reflects nature’s ability to transform and beautify civilization’s misplaced stewardship,” said Dana. “My photographic efforts are a small part in the tradition of industrial landscape art memorializing the moment man blends with his most essential element.”
Dana, a native of Georgia, began her photographic exploration of a “new nature” in 2004, when struck by the odd transformation of her hometown landscape by its resident mining industry. Since that time, Dana has focused on capturing the lush colors, abstract beauty and surreal forms that have emerged from her observations of the amplified and often destructive impact by man on nature.
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, actual landscape — the environments in which we live — is constantly being transformed. Through her photography, Dana explores the relationship between humans and their surroundings — a land which, strip-mined and strip-malled, still dictates our sense of national identity, where wild grandeur meets the reality of the ugly effects of our relentless pursuit of resources.
The Beacon Institute Gallery is open Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Fridays 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Second Saturdays of the month 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.) and Sundays 12 – 5 p.m. The gallery can be reached at 845-838-1600, ext. 10. For more information about the Beacon Institute, visit bire.org.
