Journeys to Places Known and Unknown - Janet Biggs and peter campus

Sarasota Art Museum Presents Journeys to Places Known and Unknown: Moving Images by Janet Biggs and peter campus

On view Oct. 16, 2022-Jan. 15, 2023

October 6, 2022

Sarasota, FL – October 6, 2022 – Sarasota Art Museum presents Journeys to Places Known and Unknown: Moving Images by Janet Biggs and peter campus, the first exhibition at the Museum dedicated to video and digital media.The exhibition, previously scheduled for an Oct. 2 opening, was postponed due to Hurricane Ian’s impact on Florida. On view Oct. 16-Jan. 15, 2023, Journeys to Places Known and Unknown is the first collaborative show for Janet Biggs and peter campus. The exhibition is organized by Terrie Sultan, an independent curator and the former executive director of the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, NY.

Journeys to Places Known and Unknown looks at the contrasting ways two artists of different generations use moving images to explore intersections of science, philosophy, and spirituality. Janet Biggs (b. 1959) is a research-based, interdisciplinary artist known for her immersive work in video, film, and performance. peter campus (b. 1937) is an influential artist in the canons of new media and video art. Beginning in the 1970s, peter campus pioneered the nascent medium of video and moving images as a way to make art.

“We are excited to bring the work of Janet Biggs and peter campus to Sarasota,” said Virginia Shearer, executive director of Sarasota Art Museum. “As the region’s only dedicated contemporary art museum, introducing audiences and students to new art and pioneering artists is central to our mission. Through our connection to Ringling College, Journeys to Places Known and Unknown provides students access to groundbreaking new media and video art that will help them develop their practice as artists working with the moving image.”

Alternating in scale between immersive and intimate, Journeys to Places Known and Unknown includes multi- and single-channel projections as well as video installations on flatscreen monitors. Individual galleries house the different works, giving each video space for contemplation while also creating a dynamic dialogue that stretches across the second floor of the Museum. The show highlights the strengths of both artists: Biggs presents expansive, hauntingly beautiful tributes to humanity’s perseverance in intense situations; campus, meanwhile, offers quiet moments of meditation with his painstakingly constructed, painterly videographs.

Journeys to Places Known and Unknown is the outgrowth of a year of collaborative conversations between the artists and their exploring modes of perception, nature, memory, solitude, spirituality, and humanity’s impact on the natural world. Although their styles and approaches are different, Journeys to Places Known and Unknown represents a cohesive look at both artists’ work and their use of moving images to change how we see the natural world.

Biggs and campus have long been interested in the threats of climate change and the impact of human activity on the environment. Biggs has filmed in some of the places most impacted by global warming on the planet, including the Taklamakan Desert, Afar Triangle, the Arctic, and Antarctica. campus’ work has focused exclusively on landscape since the 1980s, when he began collecting and photographing stones picked up on walks along Montauk Beach. For both artists, looking to nature has enabled them to feel hope for the future and a connection to a wider community.

Working with Janet Biggs and peter campus to develop the themes and concepts that underpin Journeys to Places Known and Unknown has been a voyage of discovery,” said Guest Curator Terrie Sultan. “To have the opportunity to fully participate in an almost year-long, collaborative dialogue between two such thoughtful and creative artists has been a joyful experience. Each work of art has been carefully selected to illuminate the many ways in which Biggs and campus explore the intersection of art and science, spirituality, and humanity’s impact on the natural world. What strikes me most about their work is the way in which both artists, within their individual approaches to image-making, convey their meaning through the power and beauty of art.”

This exhibition is paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.

Sarasota Art Museum is Ringling College of Art and Design’s dynamic laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art. As Sarasota’s only museum solely focused on contemporary artists and their work, Sarasota Art Museum showcases art that is happening now.

Related programs

CONVERSATIONS WITH CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS

Janet Biggs, peter campus, and Exhibition Curator Terrie Sultan

Saturday, October 15
1 pm – 2 pm
Thomas McGuire Halll

FREE for Members; $20 Not-Yet Members

Join the conversation between the two artists whose works are on view in the Museum’s newest exhibition, Journeys to Places Known and Unknown: Moving Images by Janet Biggs and peter campus. In dialogue with exhibition curator Terrie Sultan, Janet Biggs and peter campus will discuss their artistic practice, while exploring the connections that exist between their works.

Buy Tickets on Eventbrite

Members can enjoy a first look at Journeys to Places Known and Unknown: Moving Images by Janet Biggs and peter campus before the program during our Member Morning.

Journeys to Places Known and Unknown: Moving Images by Janet Biggs and peter campus opens to the public Sunday, October 2. This exhibition is organized by Terrie Sultan

About Sarasota Art Museum

Sarasota Art Museum is a catalyst for appreciation and understanding of the art of our time. As a platform for exposure, education, and experimentation, the Museum inspires new ideas and new ways of being through an endless rotation of transformative, relevant, and pioneering exhibitions and programs designed to elevate and empower all by cultivating discerning visual thinkers and ethical citizens.

Sarasota Art Museum is Ringling College of Art and Design’s dynamic laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art. Sarasota Art Museum shares the Ringling College Museum Campus with Ringling College’s Continuing Studies program comprised of the non-credit Studio and Digital Arts program and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Ringling College.

Located in the historic Sarasota High School, Sarasota Art Museum opened to the public in 2019 in the beautifully reimagined building by K/R Architects. The new Museum is comprised of 15,000 square feet of dedicated exhibition space, a plaza court, the Great Lawn featuring temporary sculpture and site – specific installations, Bistro, and SHOP.

As Sarasota’s only museum solely focused on contemporary artists and their work, Sarasota Art Museum offers visitors a place to see thought-provoking exhibitions and participate in education programs that start conversations and amplify the city’s creative spirit.

SHOP, located in the Museum’s lobby, features an eclectic collection of exhibition-related merchandise, art and architecture books, contemporary jewelry, and gifts.

Bistro at Sarasota Art Museum is located on the Museum’s campus in Paul Rudolph’s Sarasota School of Architecture 1959 Vocational Shops building. The Bistro fare is inspired by Florida’s regional fruit stands and farmer’s markets and emphasizes local produce, healthy proteins, and artisanal specialty items brought to you by Executive Chef and general manager Kaytlin Dangaran.

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Ashley Parker
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