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Northlight Gallery presents 'Wandering' photo exhibition


December 02, 2010

The ASU School of Art in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts presents the photographic exhibition, "Wandering," Feb. 1–26, at the Northlight Gallery on the ASU Tempe campus.

The photographs by Guggenheim Fellow and ASU School of Art alumnus Michael P. Berman continues an exchange of ideas and intimations by artists who call the region of the American Southwest and Mexico their home. A public reception featuring Berman is scheduled from 6-8:30 p.m., Feb. 1.

Berman’s images are made to speak to concerns encompassing ecological diversity, sustainability, and the soulful path of the human spirit in a 21st century world. His photographs record his solo experience of wandering the desert and grasslands of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas and Mexico.

“I like to say my real vocation is wandering, Berman says. “I started out with a degree in biology but found that photography was just as good an excuse to walk the desert and found art a better means to engage the complexity of things.”

"Wandering" is comprised of hundreds of black-and-white photographs mounted on small plates of aluminum that have been installed at varying heights throughout the gallery to give the viewer a sense of a wandering through the desert. At first sight, the images seem to simply describe the landscape: the gentle gesture of the sand dune, the dangerous coil of a rattlesnake, and the jagged horizon of distant mountains. The images may seem familiar to viewers raised on Ansel Adams and "Arizona Highways." Berman’s photographs, however, were created to embody a place that is both internal and external. Berman feels that the images describe an experience that only occurs beyond the reach of technology, and reminds the viewer of the need for time and a place to simply wander. Berman earned his MFA in photography from ASU in 1985; he now lives and works in San Lorenzo, N.M.

All activities are free and open to the public. The exhibition is Feb. 1-26, 2011. A reception is from 6-8:30 p.m., Feb. 1.  The Northlight Gallery is located in room 101 in Matthews Hall on the southeast corner of Tyler and Forest Malls on the ASU Tempe campus. Northlight Gallery hours: 12:30-8:30 p.m., Tuesday; 12:30-4:30 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday. Closed: Sundays, Mondays, major holidays and summer session.

Liz Allen, lizallen@asu.edu 

480.965.6517

ASU School of Art

Northlight Gallery director