"Untitled" by New York artist Tom McGrath
You know those massive canvases of rushing waterfalls and mountain passes that occupy acres of museum walls? Just forget ’em. Well — for as long as it takes you to visit “Anti-Grand: Contemporary Perspectives on Landscape,” running Jan. 15 to March 6 at the University of Richmond’s Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art. “I’d been thinking of a way of taking that idea of grandeur and putting it on its head,” says curator Elizabeth Schlatter. Among the 33 pieces from 24 artists is Two Suns (Beach) by Argentinian artist Martin Bonadeo, complete with sand and the scent of salt-tinged seashore air. Canadian Jon Rafman’s starting point is strange captures from Google Street View. Richmond’s Jon-Phillip Sheridan, a professor at VCUarts, gives his take on seasons with prints on aluminum, and San Francisco-based Elisheva Biernoff presents endangered wilderness areas. Two free discussions are planned, both from 6 to 8 p.m.: On Jan. 14, UR president and historian Edward Ayers will join Sheridan and Princeton art historian Rachael DeLue. On Jan. 15, DeLue will speak on the intersection of science and art in the contemporary representation of landscape. 287-6423 or richmond.edu/tucker-boatwright.
