VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. –The exhibit is being shown at the Comstock History Center, 20 North “E” Street in Virginia City. It opens Saturday, September 14th and runs through Sunday, December 15, 2013. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 11:00AM to 4:00PM, Thursdays through Sundays.
The Comstock History Center presents ―”Geographical Divides: Finding Common Ground”, featuring sixteen artists who were asked to explore the geographical and cultural differences in Nevada, if such differences truly exist. The assembly of printmakers—eight from the north, eight from the south—produced two prints from each collaboration. Visually exploring connections and disconnections between southern Nevada and northern Nevada cultural attitudes, aesthetics and geographical distinctions—these sixteen artists communicated and visually responded to each other’s unique economic, environmental, political and social settings—further dissecting the notion of a splitting geography and/or communion of Nevada’s polarities.
Geographical Divides: Finding Common Ground examines Nevada’s’ unique visual culture. It is a state labeled with cultural myths like ―Area 51―The Biggest Little City in the World and ―Sin City and one that commands the imagination of Postmodernism from the architecture of Las Vegas to the proliferation of the Burning Man Festival held each year. It is comprised of two major metropolitan communities—in the north and south—divided by 300 miles of vast desert. Nevada’s art communities are not separated by distance of travel alone. There are notable differences among artists throughout the state in what is important in their work, most of which connects with where they live. This traversal of Nevada has also led to the realization of how little dialogue there is between artists of the two dominant communities—Reno and Las Vegas—not to mention the artists living in remote territories of the Nevada outback that are sometimes overlooked.
Collaborating artists include:
Maria Arango, Las Vegas/Lynn Schmidt, Reno
Erik Beehn, Las Vegas/Nolan Preece, Reno
Bobbie Ann Howell, Las Vegas/Galen Brown, Carson City
Daryl DePry, Las Vegas/Sharon Tetly, Carson City
Keith Conley, LasVegas/Sidne Teske, Tuscarora
Anne M. Hoff, Las Vegas/Vicki LoSasso, Reno
Jeanne Voltura, Las Vegas/Candace Nicol, Reno
Juan D.Varela, Las Vegas/Ashlea Clark, Reno.
This exhibit was organized by the Nevada Arts Council, is part of the Nevada Touring Initiative – Traveling Exhibition Program and is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nevada State Legislature. The Nevada Arts Council is a division of the Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs.
