"Fjord/Glacier/River" presented paintings which emerged from artist Rebecca Allan's travels in Norway. In Geirangerfjord, Allan made extensive drawings and studies of the waterfalls, rocks, and night skies that distinguish this majestic World Heritage site. Her paintings reflect a response to the Norwegian landscape which is both exuberant and joyful but also reminds us of how urgent it is to preserve and protect our Earth’s natural resources, especially its water.

The exhibition, curated by Jason M. Kelly, consisted of two distinct installations of Rebecca Allan's work. The first installation hung in the Basile Gallery of Eskenazi Hall at IUPUI on April 2-24, 2015. The second hung in the Marsh Gallery of Eskenazi Hall June 2015.  

The exhibition was accompanied by a number of public events including opening gallery talk, a talk co-hosted by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and a river "walk and sketch" along the Pleasant Run Waterway. Additionally, the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute hosted a workshop of the Rivers of the Anthropocene network in conjunction with the exhibition. 

The Exhibition

"My paintings are rooted in the dramatic cycles of nature as well as a deep curiosity about science, and the forces underlying what we observe on the surface of things. Even when it is grounded in the visible world, a painting is a sensual invention that conflates real and conjured experiences . . . Rivers, glaciers, and fjords are central to this dialogue with nature and culture. They are complex arteries of history, culture, commerce, and ecology." 

Rebecca Allan

Events

River Walk and Sketch

June 6, 2015

In this engaging nature walk, New York based artist Rebecca Allan and Tom Swinford, Assistant Division Director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, led participants in creating nature drawings and poetry while learning about the ecology of Pleasant Run. Encouraging us to connect to and reflect on this important Indianapolis waterway, this event culminated in the on-site creation of an electronic book of artwork, photos, and poetry.

The Mirror of Landscape

June 4, 2015

Landscape painting has long provided humans with an artistic form for contemplating the relationship between nature, society, and culture. It is a profoundly engaging and intellectually powerful mode of expression that has served a host of purposes over the last 300 years — from buttressing social hierarchy to criticizing injustice to highlighting scientific discovery to expressing human hopes and anxieties.

In this interactive discussion, New York based artist Rebecca Allan and Dr. Jason M. Kelly, Associate Professor of History and Director of the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute, engaged the audience in a conversation about the role of landscape painting in mediating our relationship with the environment and with each other. We explored five paintings, created between 1750 and 2015. The discussion ended in a visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Pont-Aven gallery to examine Paul Gauguin’s Flageolet Player on the Cliff.

Presented by the IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Rivers of the Anthropocene Project.

Breaking Boundaries in Environmental Work: A Rivers of the Anthropocene Network Workshop 

April 2, 2014

A follow up to the January 2014 Rivers of the Anthropocene Conference and Workshop in Indianapolis, that brought together scientists, humanists, social scientists, artists, policy makers, and community leaders to discuss global river systems, this workshop focused on some important questions about multidisciplinary collaboration. The workshop will featured presentations by Rebecca Allan (Rebecca Allan Studios), Fredrik Albritton Jonsson (University of Chicago), and Jim Poyser (Earth Charter Indiana) as well as break-out sessions focused on refining what we are calling the “Rivers of the Anthropocene Research Framework” — an integrated, transdisciplinary framework of principles, goals, and methodologies for multidisciplinary teams of environmental researchers who wish to bridge disciplinary divides.