Discovering the Earth and the Sky

ARTISTS ROMP THROUGH A RADICALLY NEW GENRE: THE LANDSCAPE.

VISITORS WHO HAVE NOT KEPT UP with the latest art movements were startled by a remarkable exhibit in the Hood Museum last year. The exhibit, titled "Earth and Sky," consisted of modern landscapes by three women artists, and the whole thing was curated from fundraising to catalog—by a student, senior fellow Kathleen Merrill '92.

Until very recently, "modern landscapes" would have been an oxymoron. The mainstreams of art throughout most of this century have flowed into everything but representation. But many of the exhibition's works, painted by Katherine Bowling, Joan Nelson, and Ellen Phelan are graphically compelling and (dare we say it?) pretty. They are clearly modern, ranging from bold splashes of color to stark, monochromatic studies. But the onlooker can actually recognize objects within them. Which, combined with the youthfulness of the curator, made the exhibit doubly groundbreaking,

Katherine Bowling's Cadence deeply crops a wooded scene.

In Untitled #319, JoanNelson creates a horizon.

Senior fellowMerrill (lift) dideverything fromfundraising tointerpreting thedramatic Bowlingwork, Blue Sky.

JENNIFER MIGLIONICO is a Whitney Campbell Intern at this magazine.