Oil and Water
Oil & Water (2010-2014) is a series of representations that emerged from studying the impact of climate change and economics on America’s Midwestern and Southern landscape.
“I took the original photograph for what became Oil & Water during the 2008 hurricane season. Traveling by train from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico and back, I saw how climate change and economics was changing America’s Midwestern and Southern landscape. It was during a Gulf to Gulf session in 2009, with scientists Dr. Eugene Turner and Dr. James White, that I made “Red Sky.” That was the first image of the Oil & Water series, capturing my sense of future danger to our environment. Subsequent images in the series were inspired by the tragic British Petroleum oil spill.” — Aviva Rahmani
Oil & Water #8 detail of Oil & Water book, page #8 Date: 2011 Size: 11" x 11" Materials: Mixed media on Japanese Digital Niyodo Kozo paper. Description: The Oil & Water series was created for "One of a Kind," an exhibition of unique artist's books at Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge MA in 2011, "Unbound - An Exhibition in 3 Chapters" at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012, "One of a Kind III" at the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada, in 2013 and in "One of a Kind IV" and at the AC Institute, NYC, NY, also 2013, all curated by Heide Hatry.
Oil & Water #6 detail of Oil & Water book, page #6 Date: 2011 Size: 11" x 11" Materials: Mixed media on Japanese Digital Niyodo Kozo paper. Description: The Oil & Water series was created for "One of a Kind," an exhibition of unique artist's books at Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge MA in 2011, "Unbound - An Exhibition in 3 Chapters" at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012, "One of a Kind III" at the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada, in 2013 and in "One of a Kind IV" and at the AC Institute, NYC, NY, also 2013, all curated by Heide Hatry.
Oil & Water #11 detail of Oil & Water book, page #11 Date: 2011 Size: 11” x 11” Materials: Mixed media on Japanese Digital Niyodo Kozo paper. Description: The Oil & Water series was created for "One of a Kind," an exhibition of unique artist's books at Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge MA in 2011, "Unbound - An Exhibition in 3 Chapters" at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012, "One of a Kind III" at the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada, in 2013 and in "One of a Kind IV" and at the AC Institute, NYC, NY, also 2013, all curated by Heide Hatry.
Options Data Choice Date: 2009 Size: 11” x 11” Materials: Mixed media on Japanese Digital Niyodo Kozo paper. Description: The Oil & Water series was created for "One of a Kind," an exhibition of unique artist's books at Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge MA in 2011, "Unbound - An Exhibition in 3 Chapters" at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012, "One of a Kind III" at the Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada, in 2013 and in "One of a Kind IV" and at the AC Institute, NYC, NY, also 2013, all curated by Heide Hatry.
Provenance:
Oil & Water was first shown as a series of 15 images in an artist book for One of A Kind, an exhibition of unique artist's books, at Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge MA in 2011 then, Unbound – An Exhibition in 3 Chapters at Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2012, One of a Kind III at Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada in 2013 and also in 2013 at One of a Kind IV at AC Institute, New York, NY, all curated by Heide Hatry.”
Individual images from the Oil & Water series have also been shown in the following: SHFT, at 133 Greene Street, New York, NY in 2010 curated by Edie Kahula Pereira, in 2011 at Oil Spill: Information Gulf, at the Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM, curated by Katie Avery, Beyond the Horizon, at Deutsche Bank, New York, NY curated by Amy Lipton, Horizon Lines at ecoartspace New York, NY also curated by Amy Lipton and in 2013 for It's the End of the World as We Know it (and I Feel Fine), Ramapo College Art Galleries, Mahwah, NJ curated by Amy Lipton.
Publications:
Ernest, Dagney. “Rahmani opens, premiers in New York” The Herald Gazette. October 23, 2010.
Billard, Mary. “Saving the World. Smelling Good Too.” The New York Times. October 21 2010: E6. 2010.
Keim, Brandon. "Disturbing or Beautiful? Artists Evaluate Man's Impact on Nature" Weird Science August 10. Available online: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/beyond-the horizon/2011
Heartney, Eleanor. “The horsemen of eco-Armageddon” Art & Australia, Vol 49, No 2. pp: 308-313, Summer 2011.
Lippard, Lucy. Undermining: A Wild Ride Through Land Use, Politics, and Art in the Changing West. New York: New Press, 2014.
Cembalest, Robin. "101 Women Artists Who Got Wikipedia Pages This Week" ArtNews Online posting: http://www.artnews.com/2014/02/06/art-and-feminism-wikipedia-editathon-creates-pages-for-women-artists 2014.