Honoring Earth Day April 2023, Must See Art Exhibits
Art and the City
Studio Gallery
Lynda Andrews-Barry “Petrichor: the Scent of The Earth after a Warm Rain,” curated by Gaby Mizes
March 29–April 22
Closing Reception:
Saturday April 22, 4–6 pm.
www.studiogallerydc.com
“The Deadzone” by Lynda Andrews-Barry
“Do you find the smell of rain appealing? There is a word for that wonderful smell—it’s called “petrichor.” However, Lynda Andrews-Barry’s solo exhibition “Petrichor” addresses a much more unpleasant topic—the catastrophic impact our interactions have with the environment. Andrews-Barry examines “The possibility of a future with only remnants of The Earth,” a place where petrichor disappears altogether, in other words, a world where rain no longer smells agreeable. Through a series of sculptural works, the artist predicts that, given man’s systematic destruction of the environment and unwillingness to change course, many of the natural wonders we take for granted will simply cease to exist.
Andrews-Barry sees a future where ‘our natural world [will] be a manmade place where fabricated tableaux memorialize the once common but now extinct.’ For example, we will have are images of forests but none in which to hike. Andrew-Barry’s dystopic vision of a future where environmental collapse is imminent resembles the 1970s movie ‘Soylent Green’ or more the recent ‘Blade Runner 2049’ but her intent is neither shock-value nor the desire to instill despair in the viewer. Instead, she hopes the exhibition “encourages conversations that will animate citizens to engage emotionally to internalize an environmental ethic, and ultimately, truly feel the exigencies of our generation.
2108 R Street NW, Washington, DC. Hours: Wed.-Fri.: 1-6 p.m. & Sat.: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 202-232-8734”
Review by Phil Hutinet. Hillrag, April 2023. Thank you!
Petrichor runs through April 22 at Studio Gallery. studiogallerydc.com.