My one-person exhibit The Invented Land is open at The Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, California (Greater Los Angeles area) through August 11. The exhibit is accompanied by a book produced by the museum, with an introduction by Andi Campognone, museum director, and essays by Leslie Jones, Curator of Prints and Drawings at Los Angeles County Museum of Art 2005-2023, Mark Arax, author of The Dreamt Land, which explores the histories and challenges of California’s water distribution system and me.

 

The drawings, tapestries, maps and walk in installation that comprise this exhibit are based on the subject of industrial agriculture/factory farming, the modernization of how we grow food and also the significant transformations we have made to the environment and our society. This series focuses on California’s San Joaquin Valley, the fertile land in the middle of the state, which grows a substantial portion the world’s food supply. California’s verdant farmland plays a significant role in the use of natural resources, our global food supply, and population demographics; however, the way it was used for many generations is rapidly transitioning with our physical needs and changes in climate. Through my investigations  of land, water, and the architecture of modern-day factory farming, I am interpreting ecological decline, man’s imprint on the land, natural cycles, and the changing climate, as well as how place is experienced both currently and historically and how identity is tied to place.

 

Ann Diener: The Invented Land
The Lancaster Museum of Art and History
May 11 – August 11, 2024
www.lancastermoah.org

UPCOMING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
PST ART: Art & Science Collide, Getty Pacific Standard Time 2024 Preview event
Saturday, August 3 at 2 PM
Featuring an Artist Talk and Book Signing with Ann Diener and Debra Scacco