Grammar Of Landscape: Photographic Visions Of Illinois

The Grammar of Landscape maps the terrain of our state through the eyes of ten photographers—David Avison, Barbara Crane, Michelle Keim, Gary Kolb, Jin Lee, Michael McGuire, Rhondal McKinney, Art Sinsabaugh, Bill Sosin, Bob Thall, and a performance artist, Joan Dickinson, each of whom has made a commitment to the landscape through their work.

The Grammar of Landscape looks at wetlands, prairies, forest, plains, agriculture, Lake Michigan, Chicago, and industry in terms of building blocks that function together to create a viable environment in the same way that parts of speech combine to create effective language. Essays looking at the language we use to 'talk' about the land and quotations from environmental scientists complete the exhibit.

The late photographers Art Sinsabaugh (1924-1983) and David Avison (1937-2004) are known for panoramic landscapes—the former for sweeping, iconic images of the Midwest that included southern and central Illinois and the latter for documentary urban landscapes of Chicago. Gary Kolb, of Carbondale, photographs the Shawnee National Forest and Normal's Rhondal McKinney captures the agricultural plains of central Illinois. Prairie photographer Jin Lee divides her time between the Bloomington/Normal area and her studio in Chicago.

From Chicago, Michelle Keim's work addresses industry while Barbara Crane, Bob Thall, Michael McGuire, and Bill Sosin photograph the urban environment. Performance artist Joan Dickinson recreates the experience of living on a bog-side farm in northern Illinois through an installation that combines journaling, poetry, and thoughts on nature and life.

Four of the photographs in the exhibition were recently purchased for the Illinois State Museum collections. Acquisition of these photographs was made possible through generous donations to the Illinois State Museum Society's 1877 Fund. -- www.museum.state.il.us