DAVENPORT, IOWA (September 16, 2019) — Mia Feuer: Totems of the Anthropocene by Artist Mia Feuer will be on view in the fourth-floor gallery beginning Saturday.
Mia Feuer: Totems of the Anthropocene envisions what our environment might become after prolonged exposure to petroleum, a fossil fuel that lives beneath the earth’s surface. From the packaging of the foods we eat to our daily commute, petroleum is a pervasive presence in our lives and the landscape in which we live. Feuer’s work delves into the consequences of mining petroleum from an environmental, social, and political perspective.
The exhibition includes several site-specific installations that question our exploitation of the environment, including a synthetic ice-rink on which one museum visitor at a time may skate under a vortex of ravens and uprooted trees. The ravens and trees reference the environmental realities facing the Alberta tar-sands and the decline of winter pond-skating in Feuer’s native Canada. The ponds on which many Canadians first learn to skate are disappearing as global temperatures continue to rise. The sensation of skating in this desolate landscape hints at the desolate future we may be facing.
The sculptures included in the exhibition are made from petroleum bi-products including polyurethane foam, resins, and adhesive. Feuer’s use of these materials demonstrate the ubiquity of petroleum as well as its inescapability.
Mia Feuer: Totems of the Anthropocene is presented in partnership with the Center for Polar Studies at Augustana College and Davenport Parks and Recreation and will be on view through December 29.
Companion Programming:
Artist Talk: Mia Feuer
Thursday, September 19
4PM Happy Hour Menu/Cash Bar
6:30PM Talk
Artist Mia Feuer will introduce her exhibition and discuss her philosophical approach to artmaking.
Collection and Exhibition Highlights Tours
1:30PM Saturday, September 28; October 12 and 26; November 9; and December 7 and 14.
1:30PM Sunday, September 22; October 6 and 20; November 3 and 17; and December 1.
Members-only tours 1:30PM Friday, December 6; Sunday, December 8; and Tuesday, December 10.
Scholar Talk: Dr Grant Deane
Thursday, October 3
4PM Happy Hour Menu/Cash Bar
6:30PM Talk
Dr Grant Deane is an oceanographer who worked to record, isolate, and incorporate the sounds of melting ice and calving glaciers in the Mia Feuer exhibition.
Activist Talk
Thursday, November 7
4PM Happy Hour Menu/Cash Bar
6:30PM Talk
Donald and Theresa Daradar of the Pointeau-Chien Native American tribe of Louisiana will discuss their tribe’s ongoing efforts to combat the effects of global warming that threaten their tribe’s land. Their on-going struggle inspired artist Mia Feuer to create Mesh, one of her installations in the exhibition.
Free Family Day
10AM-1PM Saturday, November 23
Admission is free all day. Radar, the mascot from the Quad City Storm, will be making an appearance!
Sponsored by Quad-City Times and Wells Fargo
About the Figge Art Museum:
The Figge Art Museum is located on the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are 10AM-5PM, and Tuesday through Saturday and Sunday, Noon-5PM; Thursdays the museum is open until 9PM. Admission to the museum and tour is $10 for adults, $6 for seniors and students with ID, and $4 children ages 4-12. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members, and always free to all on Thursday evenings 5-9PM. The Figge Café is open, 11AM-2PM, Tuesday-Friday. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.
