Silent Spring @ New York Academy of Sciences

THE OBLIGATION TO ENDURE
Art & Ecology Since 'Silent Spring'
curated by Nick Debs

November 4, 2005 - January 13, 2006
opening reception: Friday, Nov 4, 6-8pm

New York Academy of Sciences
2 East 63rd Street
New York, NY 10021
http://nyas.org

participating artists:
Joy Episalla - Joy Garnett - Tom Hawkins - Dominic McGill - John
McLachlin - Jason Middlebrook - Frank Moore - Catherine Murphy - Bruce
Nauman - Gary Ponzo - Amy Jean Porter - Alexis Rockman - David
Wojnarowicz - Carrie Yamaoka
………………………………………………………

For Immediate Release : October 25, 2005
Academy Gallery Takes Serious Look At Art and Ecology Since Silent Spring

Exhibition features work by Rockman, Moore and Wojnarowicz

If Rachel Carson were alive today, she would probably be pleased about
the heightened public awareness of the environment and some of the
protective legislation passed since she wrote Silent Spring. She
would likely be much less satisfied with the ongoing battle between
those who wish to preserve our natural environment and those whose
efforts continue to contribute to its deterioration and destruction.

And just as Carson brought an investigative scientific eye to the
problems of pesticides that she described in her groundbreaking book,
an exhibition opening November 4 at the New York Academy of Sciences
likewise casts a probing artistic look at some of the most critical
environmental issues facing the world today. The exhibition, "The
Obligation to Endure: Art & Ecology Since Silent Spring," reflects one
of Carson's favorite maxims by the French biologist Jean Rostand: "The
obligation to endure gives us the right to know.

It features works in a variety of media that raise questions about
such current concerns as global warming, toxic waste, POPs (persistent
organic pollutants), the extinction of species, and genetic
modification. Artists included in the exhibition are Joy Episalla,
Joy Garnett, Tom Hawkins, Dominic McGill, Jason Middlebrook, Frank
Moore, Catherine Murphy, Bruce Nauman, Gary Ponzo, Amy Jean Porter,
Alexis Rockman, David Wojnarowicz and Carrie Yamaoka.


Telling 'Truth to Power'
"Despite the seminal influence of Silent Spring, the battle that
Rachel Carson fought on behalf of all living things is a long way from
being won," said Nick Debs, curator of the exhibit. "We are
increasingly polluting our water and air and are causing irreparable
harm to the biosphere."

Debs, former director of the activist group Visual AIDS and principal
of the New York gallery Debs and Co., noted that the artists chosen
for the exhibition reflected Carson's own activist calling and her
goal of speaking "truth to power."

"The directness of message on environmental topics from artists like
Rockman, Garnett, Moore, and Wojnarowicz certainly pay homage to
Carson's own clarity of communication and her passionate love of the
natural world," he said. "Silent Spring was a call to action that
resonated with a wide public; similarly, the works of art in this
exhibit provoke the viewer into considering what we're doing to the
environment, and they serve as a caution and warning to all of us."

The Academy exhibition is on view Monday-Friday from 9 am to 5 pm from
November 4 through January 13, 2006. The Gallery of Art & Science is
located at 2 E. 63rd Street, New York.

Founded in 1817, the New York Academy of Sciences is a worldwide
nonprofit membership organization committed to building communities
and advancing science.


New York Academy of Sciences
2 East 63rd Street
New York, NY 10021
http://nyas.org

MEDIA: For images from the exhibition, please contact
Jennifer Tang, 212/838-0230, x257 or [email protected]

Contact: Fred Moreno, 212.838.0230, x230
[email protected]

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