September 11, 2026 – April 4, 2027
When we hear "ground," we often think of the earth below our feet. The word conjures up concepts of stability, consistency, and impartiality. In one sense, we know the ground and what it can do — we built upon it.
This gallery presents works that complicate the term by pointing to the ground as human record. Ground preserves and archives activity, both personal and communal. We leave ourselves on the ground in every sense; we inter our dead, seed and harvest our sustainment, divide along sociopolitical lines, destroy it, and worship it.
Some objects here are made of ground, such as the excavated pottery and William Buggel's Untitled, which incorporates sand. Others reference the ways we shape and cultivate the land. Still others are less literal, exploring what grounds us as a society. Bob Trotman's Kaitlin serves as a reminder to reexamine our foundational cultural and economic systems.
This gallery asks: How does the ground preserve traces of human activity?
Image above:
Barry Andersen
Florida #91 (detail)
1983; 2022
Archival inkjet print
17 x 22 in.
2022.12