Mark Ruwedel: Selections from Four Ecologies

Selections from Four Ecologies

MARK RUWEDEL

Selections from Four Ecologies

Nov 01, 2021 – Jan 08, 2022

Pop-Up Exhibition at The Lapis Press

 

 

Gallery Luisotti and The Lapis Press are pleased to announce their collaboration on the exhibition, Mark Ruwedel, Selections from Four Ecologies.

Over the past decade, Mark Ruwedel has been compiling epic photographic work detailing Los Angeles’ unique natural environment. Ruwedel calls the ongoing project “Landscapes of Four Ecologies,” a reference to British architectural critic Reyner Banham’s 1971 book, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies. As Banham wrote, the city was both chaotic and sublime: “one of the ecological wonders of the modern world.” Veiled by Banham’s focus on structure was the city’s true topography, an ecology that discloses a distinct entanglement of humanity and resilience. 

Press Release 

Installation view at The Lapis Press

Big Tujunga #31C, 2019
Archival pigment print mounted on archival board
16 x 20 inch print, 24 x 30 inch board, edition of 5

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Big Tujunga #32C, 2019
Archival pigment print mounted on archival board
16 x 20 inch print, 24 x 30 inch board, edition of 5

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Big Tujunga #33C, 2019
Archival pigment print mounted on archival board
16 x 20 inch print, 24 x 30 inch board, edition of 5

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“Los Angeles enfolds wild terrain in a complex fashion; it is a place where natural history and social history can sometimes be read as inverted images of each other.” 

—Mike Davis, “Ecology of Fear”

Working map of Four Ecologies from Mark Ruwedel’s studio in Long Beach, CA

“The Los Angles area has always burned. Fire is an integral part of the ecology of southern California. In recent years, however, the fires have increased in both frequency and intensity. The La Tuna fire, in 2017, was considered to be the largest in the history of the city. Each year is hotter and drier than the previous one, and the “Fire Season” is extended to encompass much of the year. Climate change, decades of fire suppression, and general human carelessness all contribute to the recurring conflagrations.”

—Mark Ruwedel

Verdugo Mountains fire #4, 2017
16 x 20 inch gelatin silver print dry-mounted on
24 x 30 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 3

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Verdugo Mountains Fire #7, 2017
16 x 20 inch gelatin silver print dry-mounted on
24 x 30 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 3

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San Gabriel Mountains Fire #11, 2020
16 x 20 inch gelatin silver print dry-mounted on
24 x 30 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 3

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With Selections from Four Ecologies, Ruwedel takes us to the rivers, coastal edges, foothills, and broad valleys, that define the greater Los Angeles basin. Along the way we visit the “Sunken City” in San Pedro, find remnants of concrete foundations and roadways from Point Mugu to Los Cerritos, and witness all manner of hardy palm trees indicating abandonment. 

Throughout Four Ecologies we see remnants of nature’s proximity to the city, with some photographs showing the traces of seemingly ever-present fires, and others framing disregarded detritus. Ruwedel reminds us of the resilience of Los Angeles’ natural ecology while evoking our culpability in its transformation.

Sunken City #3, 2015
11 x 14 archival pigment print dry-mounted inch gelatin silver print dry-mounted on
20 x 24 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 5

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White Point #1, 2017
11 x 14 archival pigment print dry-mounted on 20 x 24 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 5

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Point Mugu #8, 2018
11 x 14 archival pigment print dry-mounted on 20 x 24 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 5

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Pacific Palisades #20, 2019
11 x 14 archival pigment print dry-mounted inch gelatin silver print dry-mounted on
20 x 24 inch white museum board inch board,
edition 5

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Please join us for Gallery Luisotti’s first post-pandemic “Pop-up” exhibition at The Lapis Press studio, 8563 Higuera St., Culver City, CA 90232. The exhibition is open to the public, Wednesday through Saturday, but we request all guests please email to make an appointment and kindly wear a mask during the visit.
Contact Gallery Luisotti at info@galleryluisotti.com or The Lapis Press at studio@lapispress.com.

Mark Ruwedel has been the subject of numerous exhibitions and publications. Recent publications include, Seventy-Two and One Half Miles Across Los Angeles (MACK, 2020) and Ouarzazate (MACK, 2018). Ruwedel has been shortlisted for the 2021 Prix Pictet, the global award in photography and sustainability, and part of their exhibition, Fire, at the Victoria and Albert Museum in December 2021. His work is held in extensive museum collections including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, TATE Modern, London, National Gallery of Art and National Gallery of Canada.