The Grammar of Landscape

This past weekend, I went to see “The Grammar of Landscape: Eleven Photographic Visions of Illinois” at the Lockport Gallery at the Illinois State Museum. The exhibition contained photographic works of eleven artists. The subjects for the photography ranged from prairie, the lake, forest to the city and the industries. Because of the large variations in the topic and expression in all of the works and used by each of the artists, it is impossible to make a statement to describe the whole of the work.

One of the first works I saw and the one that probably captured my attention and stayed with me is a series of three prints titled Wave 1, Wave 2 and Wave 3. These were prints of the Lake Michigan. Yet they showed the lake in a way I have never seen expressed. It showed three phases of a wave. The wave itself was not blue, green or any other aqua color that are constantly used. Rather the color of the water is rather dark, almost brown among other colors. Each ripple and crest in the water can be seen. In each print, you can see the water on the sand, how one would see it standing on the lake.

Another series of prints that I really enjoyed are the photographs of industrial sites in Chicago by Michelle Keim. These had vibrant colors to them against the dark background of the night. The color of these buildings or structures itself were dark looking but they were outlined and illuminated by the few lights that were on them and the energetic colors of the sky on what seems to be a regular day.

A third series of prints that I really enjoyed are a series by Michael McGuire that gives glimpse of the city from parking garages. It shows the midsection of several buildings fully lighted for the evening against the light of the dusk. There was also a series of prints by Bill Sosin which he took pictures through his car window on rainy days through the streets of Chicago.

These are not the end of the prints that were present at the gallery, for there were a lot more touching a lot more topic and subjects. However, I think I may be biased by the vibrant, energetic colors of the dusk I saw in some prints. Overall I though the works by the various artists were well put together by the museum and well organized. The overall themes of the works were environment of Illinois, both natural and manmade. I especially liked how the museum had its large glass window open, adding its own sense of nature to the artworks.

More information about this exhibition and the museum itself can be found at : http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/lockport/