Thaddeus Holownia: Walden Revisited
April 15, 2017 - July 30, 2017
Thaddeus Holownia’s Walden Revisited pays homage to the 19th century American writer Henry David Thoreau, whose experiment in simple living unfolded over two years at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts beginning in 1845. Inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who believed that individuals should seek a spiritually fulfilling relationship with the natural world, Thoreau’s communion with nature comprised a close observation of the environment that is manifest in Holownia’s monumental photographs conceived as 24 Tree Studies for Henry David Thoreau. Presented as a full-gallery installation that approximates Thoreau’s and Holownia’s experience of Walden Woods, the images focus closely on individual trees, creating a portrait of the site and encouraging quiet contemplation of nature’s grandeur. A companion exhibition–Earth Muse: Art and the Environment–features artists whose work continues the theme of reflection, highlighting nature’s beauty and diversity, the eternal rhythms of the natural world, and man’s impact on the environment.