Industry of the Ordinary, Match of the Day II, Photo: Greg Stimac, "as Old God and Young God, play table football, first to 100 goals, on the promontory point by North Avenue beach."

Fred Ivar Utsi Klemetsen (Norway), Magerøya, 1992.

Anne Senstad (Norway), Essence of Light, 3 c-prints, plexiglass and aluminum, 20 x 20" each.

Robert Bateman (Canada), Antarctic Evening – Humpback Whales, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60".

Yoshiaki Kahaitsu (Japan), Social Services Project, Teahouse, Styrofoam, 96 x 96 x 96".

Angela Lergo (Spain), I give you my heart, installation, 150 x 150 x 50 cm, Polyester, resin, wax, pigments, grass, plant.

Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels
Rue Ravensteinstraat 23
Brussels
02 507 82 00
Melting Ice — A Hot Topic: Envisioning Change
October 6, 2007-January 6, 2008

The International Polar Year has certainly not left the art world cold: 40 international artists have set out to draw attention to global warming. How exactly is the climate changing? What are the political implications? And how can sustainable development contribute to peace? No, art cannot save the world. But it can hold up a mirror.

The exhibition explores such questions as “What is climate change?” “What are the political implications?” “How does sustainable development create a pathway to peace?” and “Why should we care?” The artists and artworks provide insight and answers to these questions.

The 40 artists in Envisioning Change are diverse in both style and substance.

Norwegian artist Anne Senstad has exhibited widely internationally, including Sao Paulo, Brazil; New York, USA; and Oslo, Norway. Since 1996 she has received grants from the Norwegian Council for Cultural Affairs and The Norwegian Photography Foundation for the Arts. In 1997, Senstad started working with light and color. Through her photography, she has investigated light, color and sound by photographing pure light sources and their environmental behavioral patterns. In this exhibit Senstad’s color circles in Essence of Light are expanding and contracting, as in the melting or solidifying of ice. The works incorporate the circular poles of the globe, the purity of water and ice, and the melting ice of the polar caps. The viewer experiences the work as if looking through ice.

Canadian born artist Robert Bateman is one of the world’s foremost artists depicting the natural world. Since the 1960’s Bateman has been an advocate of the environment on a global scale, earning him numerous awards including Officer of the Order of Canada (the country’s highest civilian award), the Rachel Carson Award, and he was named one of the 20th Century’s Champions of Conservation by the US National Audubon Society. His works are in the private collections of HRH The Prince Charles, HRH The Prince Philip, HRH The late Princess Grace of Monaco, HRH Bernhard, and the Prince of the Netherlands. In this exhibit Bateman’s painting, Antarctic Evening – Humpback Whales, demonstrates his mastery of capturing the majesty and intricacy of nature.

Chris Jordan is one of the leading artists bridging art and the environment in the United States. Jordan has already had numerous solo exhibitions and has participated dozens of group exhibits. He has been featured in several high profile magazines and received numerous awards for his photography. For this exhibit, Jordan created an image that depicts 24,000 GMC "Denali" SUV logos, which represents six weeks of sales for that model. In Denali/Denial, the logos are arranged into a mosaic mirroring Ansel Adams’ famous photograph of Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park, Alaska. Half of the Denali logos are changed to read "Denial."

Artists from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Serbia, USA, Spain, England, Peru, Croatia, Wales, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina and more, are participating in Envisioning Change, including Fred Ivar, Utsi Klemetsen, Jonas Liverod, Laura Horelli, Lucy Orta, Mona Hatoum, Subhankar Banerjee, David Nash, Dalibor Martinis, David Buckland, Yoshiaki Kaihatsu, David Trubridge, Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, Gary Hume, David and Hi-Jin Hodge, and dozens more.

The goal of this exhibition is to present a unique opportunity that utilizes the universal language of art as a catalyst to peacefully unite people in action and thought and to empower individuals, communities, and leaders to focus on environmental values across social, economic, and political realms.

Curatorial Statement

The effects of climate change are taking place on a global level, from the Andes to the Arctic, from Africa to Asia to America. And while the impacts are vast and growing, we've asked our 40 artists from around the world to focus on just one dimension: the thawing and melting of the ice caps and permafrost, and the implications for humans and other species.

In recent years, as the science of climate change has become more certain, the conversation has transformed from "Is climate change happening?" to "What will we do about it?" To avert its worst affects, it has become clear that we must change.

What, exactly, does it mean to change? The word itself has multiple meanings and implications. It can refer to the moment of transformation, as in the case of our global climate. Change can require organisms and organizations alike to adapt to new and shifting conditions. And it can require the transformation of society's mindset - of actions and habits, and how we must change individually and collectively to ensure a more sustainable future, perhaps even to survive. In Melting Ice — A Hot Topic: Envisioning Change, we explore all of these aspects of change.

In recognizing climate change's powerful effects — scarcity of resources, desertification, and an increase in the number of natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes — we can see a direct relationship to the rise of resource conflicts. Climate change can bring dramatic changes in the supply of drinking water, a reduction of biological diversity, and millions of refugees. More people depending on finite resources will inevitably threaten global security. The link between climate change and peace becomes apparent as does the joint vision of the Nobel Peace Center, the Natural World Museum, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, partnering to create this show, Envisioning Change.

In the course of the exhibition we are posed with questions, both challenging and reflective. The art invites us to reflect on our beliefs about the environment, and question our own perceptions. That is also the purpose of this exhibition: to inspire change — in both attitudes and action.

— Randy Jayne Rosenberg

Don & Era Farnsworth (United States), Mythos VII, Deluge Thangka, State 1, 2006, tapestry.