Richard Misrach's "Wall, Jacumba, California" in “Border Cantos / Sonic Borders" at the Figge Art Museum -- through June 5.

Thursday, March 24, 6:30 p.m.

Presented by the Figge Art Museum

Richard Misrach, one of the most influential photographers of his generation, will be the featured guest in the Figge Art Museum's March 24 virtual artist talk on Border Cantos / Sonic Borders, the Davenport venue's exhibition in which Misrach and artist/composer Guillermo Galindo explore the complexities of the southern border through photography, sculpture, and sound.

With their exhibit humanizing the Mexican-American border and inviting visitors to engage with the complex and often misunderstood experiences of those seeking a better life in the United States, Border Cantos / Sonic Borders finds Misrach and Galindo addressing fraught topics touching on politics, the environment, and humanitarian issues. Misrach is well-known for his expansive images focusing on the ways humans interact with and impact the natural world, while Galindo is inspired by the Mesoamerican belief that one can bring out the spiritual essence of an object's past. Galindo's 260-minute composition Sonic Borders, which can be heard playing within the gallery, employs eight musical instruments the artist created from objects discarded near the border. Taken together, the photographs, objects, and sonic composition introduce distinct yet interrelated ways of experiencing the human consequences of immigration policies. By offering evidence of those who have journeyed through the borderlands in pursuit of their hopes and dreams, Misrach and Galindo encourage empathy for the plight of migrants everywhere.

Over the course of his career, Misrach has photographed the deserts of the American West, and made a series documenting the changes brought to bear on the environment by various man-made factors such as urban sprawl, tourism, industrialization, floods, fires, petrochemical manufacturing, and the testing of explosives and nuclear weapons by the military. Curator Anne Wilkes Tucker wrote that Misrach's practice has been "driven [by] issues of aesthetics, politics, ecology, and sociology," and David Littlejohn of The Wall Street Journal calls Misrach "the most interesting and original American photographer of his generation." In a 2011 interview, Misrach himself noted: "My career, in a way, has been about navigating these two extremes – the political and the aesthetic," while in a description of his philosophy, the New York Times' Tracey Taylor noted that "[Misrach's] images are for the historical record, not reportage."

The virtual artist talk with Richard Misrach will begin at 6:30 p.m. on March 24, with online registrants receiving a Zoom link two hours before the program begins. Participation is free, the exhibit Border Cantos / Sonic Border will be on display through June 5, and more information on the event is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.

Support the River Cities' Reader

Get 12 Reader issues mailed monthly for $48/year.

Old School Subscription for Your Support

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Old School Subscribe now.



Help Keep the Reader Alive and Free Since '93!

 

"We're the River Cities' Reader, and we've kept the Quad Cities' only independently owned newspaper alive and free since 1993.

So please help the Reader keep going with your one-time, monthly, or annual support. With your financial support the Reader can continue providing uncensored, non-scripted, and independent journalism alongside the Quad Cities' area's most comprehensive cultural coverage." - Todd McGreevy, Publisher