Maplewood artist, Margaret Keller, has new exhibit on display at the Contemporary Art Museum; set in an imaginary future after climate change has forced most living organisms toward either mutation or extinction.
The work, Botanica absentia, creates a fictive memorial and archive dedicated to lost trees. serves as a commemoration to the extinct trees, according to Keller’s information.
Also from Keller: Multi-hued refractions transform the somber black walls of the space into a dystopian tribute to nature devastated by climate change. This installation emerges out of Keller’s belief that at this precise moment, we are at the tipping point of a world gone wrong.
Teen Museum Studies participants selected Botanica absentia from twenty-two artist proposals, choosing Keller’s proposal, in part, because of the students serious concerns for the fate of the Earth in the wake of climate change. They worked directly with Keller to organize and implement the exhibition as part of the six-week summer program. Teen Museum Studies gives twelve students, grades 9-12, a unique behind-the-scenes look at the museum profession, along with a stipend for completing the program. Through direct engagement with every CAM department, they learn all that goes into the making of an exhibition, and then organize their own.
The work will on display Sept. 6 – Dec. 29 at the Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington Blvd.