Landscapes of Art at Chaffey College
by Maximilian Morici
Innovation and progress drove the Modern Art movement, however it also left room for speculation. Artists such as Marina Abramovic and Jean-Michel Basquiat were compelled to question the rigidness, boundaries and even approach to creating art.
There is some overlap between the end of Pre-War Art and the Modern Art era (1945-1960), and the beginning of the three buds that would bloom into Postmodern Art, Post-War Art and Contemporary Art. Artists such as Andy Warhol were apart of this overlap, as he began creating art prior to the war, but continued creating new art well into the 1980's.
Falling into today Chaffey College has its own Contemporary Art exhibition at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition “Radical Geographies: Possibilities of the Imaged Landscape” ran from Sept 2 - Nov 8, 2025.
Curator Tamara Cedre’s statement reads as follows: “Historically, land has been wielded in the service of power for exploration, extraction and conquest. The advent of the camera legitimated this speculation and capture with the click of a shutter. But, can photography rupture this cycle and reconnect us with the endangered ecologies that surround us?...”
“Radicial Geographies” is a collection of works created using only photography. This gives an interesting dynamic to an exhibition focused on landscapes.
Tarrah Krajnak's “Forestpath” is an innovative installment involving a series of photographs of a nature trail, designed to be walked down like an actual path. While this was not allowed at its display in the Wignall, the path does lead to a video depicting the artist walking down the path, showing the intended interaction with the artwork.
“Birth Rehearsal” by Jenny Calivas is a series of black and white photographs that depicts a make-believe pregnancy belly made of sand birthing over the course of the series. The depiction in black and white seems to blend the sand and skin together. Emotional and symbolic of our connection to the landscapes that we inhabit.
The idea of preserving a work of art like we would preserve a forest trail. The imprints of stocks of sugar cane held forever in a photograph. The spaces of wild nature dwindling to barren fields. The intricate pattern of tree bark drawn on paper.
From the tactile to pure imagination, the artwork always has something new to discover. Something new to feel.
These artists are having a certain experience with the landscapes that they personally interact with. They have found unique ways to depict it. Challenging how we interact with and what is defined as art.
“... this group of artists propose radical geographies, rendering land as a politically charged locus of negotiation, mediating the site of their environs with the sight of their camera to posit questions about our ontological connection to the landscape and envisioning new ways of stewarding it into the future.” - Tamara Cedre.