Pedro Lasch, Guías de Ruta / Route Guides, 2003/2006, silkscreen on paper, 20” x 28,” courtesy of the artist
An Atlas
organized by Lize Mogel and Alexis Bhagat
November 27, 2007-January 19, 2008
Reception: Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 5-8 pm
Curators' Gallery Talk: Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 6:30pm
An Atlas, as a part of a cultural movement that links art, geography, and activism, explores the use of maps and mapping to promote social change. The participating artists, architects, and collectives play with cartographic convention - geographic shapes, wayfinding symbols, and aerial views - in order to take on issues from globalization to garbage.
While mapping in art practice has expanded into technological and performative realms, An Atlas focuses on a traditional aspect of the map as a work-on-paper, and, importantly, its function as a political agent. The latter is underscored by the mapmakers themselves who are committed to social justice within their own diverse practices.
Works include Ashley Hunt's intricate diagram of the social effects of the global prison-industrial complex; the Center for Urban Pedagogy's mapping of the people who make and manage the "garbage machine" in New York City; Jane Tsong's drawing of how nature and culture clash in Los Angeles watershed; and Trevor Paglen and John Emerson's route map of CIA rendition flights.
An Atlas is a companion exhibition to the publication, An Atlas of Radical Cartography, published by the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest Press, Los Angeles. Please join us at the exhibition reception to celebrate the launch of the book, which includes 10 of the maps seen in the exhibition and 10 accompanying essays.
This exhibition was presented in conjunction with the city-wide Festival of Maps, a celebration of humanity's greatest discoveries and the maps that record our boldest explorations.
Reviews
Timeout Chicago -- December 13-26, 2007