Meijer Gardens Celebrates Nature with Exclusive Andy Goldsworthy Exhibition

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (PRWEB) September 19, 2005

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, a leading Midwest cultural destination, is honored to welcome Scottish artist, Andy Goldsworthy, for his largest exhibition in the United States to date. This exclusive presentation centers on Goldsworthy’s concern for the permanent as well as transitory qualities of nature, through works, many never before seen in the United States. This examination of Goldsworthy’s work is open January 27 through May 14, 2006.

Meijer Gardens continues to capture the attention of the arts community by emphasizing its founding mission—to foster the appreciation and understanding of horticulture and the arts. This mission is enhanced by thoughtfully conceived installations of major works by an expanding roster of international artists. The duality of art and nature is further explored during Andy Goldsworthy at Meijer Gardens.

From his long-winding rock walls and icicle sculptures to his interlocking leaf chains and multicolored pools of flowers to the brilliant photographs that document his creations, Goldsworthy’s painstakingly intricate masterpieces are made entirely of materials found in nature. The exhibition itself features two seminal works, the colossal stone Arch, which stands more than 18 feet tall and 35 feet long, and Herd of Arches, consisting of 11 smaller-scale arches. Complementing these pieces will be five pedestal-scale sculptures, a framed grouping of his “Forest Gatherings” reliefs and more than 15 original photographs, including examples from his time on Lake Michigan.

“As a tireless documenter of transitory and permanent qualities of the natural world, Goldsworthy directly addresses the correlation between man-made structures and the structures of nature,” said Dr. Joseph Becherer, director and curator of the Sculpture Program at Meijer Gardens. “Goldsworthy’s art and philosophy invites viewers to consider their current relationship to the evolving world. His work is particularly significant within the Meijer Gardens context in that it combines ideas about nature and the relationships between light, color, movement and balance.”

While many of his pieces can appear permanent, Goldsworthy’s work frequently possesses ephemeral characteristics; it is sometimes very spontaneous and is primarily created in remote settings. The very origin of a particular sculpture is often part of an organic process that takes place at each location. Subsequently, the artist's own efforts to document the short life of each work has historically been through photography, and is commonly the way his works are seen in public. Andy Goldsworthy at Meijer Gardens is a rare opportunity to experience both sides of the artist’s work.

The exhibition will include a variety of educational activities including a lecture series featuring Goldsworthy and Becherer, weekend workshops and an audio tour, as well as a family looking guide.

Andy Goldsworthy at Meijer Gardens will also include the award-winning, theatrical phenomenon, Rivers and Tides, shown daily in Meijer Gardens’ Hoffman Family Auditorium. Directed by Thomas Riedeisheimer, Rivers and Tides depicts the magical relationship between art and nature while capturing Goldsworthy in the midst of constructing his work on-camera. The film won the Golden Gate Award Grand Prize for Best Documentary at the 2004 San Francisco International Film Fest.

About Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire, England in 1956. Since the 1970s, he has created sculptures and installations with and about nature. He is known for his sculptural interventions that transform nature's most familiar elements into graceful designs. Using color and geometric form to order found materials—such as stone, trees, mud, grass, snow, ice and leaves—he creates visual displays in which the changing nature of the materials is as much a part of the work as the design itself. With their apparent effortlessness, Goldsworthy's creations impart a sense of wonder, drawing attention to the inherent power, beauty and mystery of nature. The simplicity of each work belies its labor-intensive origins, the hours spent gathering stones of a certain type, layering colored leaves into a circle or patiently waiting as a circle of water freezes to ice. Solo museum exhibitions of his work have been held around the world.

About Meijer Gardens 2006

Andy Goldsworthy at Meijer Gardens represents a significant start to the Meijer Gardens 2006 sculpture calendar, which also features exhibitions by internationally heralded artists Tom Otterness and Magdalena Abakanowicz. Opening in June 2006, Tom Otterness in Grand Rapids will feature the sculptor’s bronze figures installed along the sidewalks and streetscapes of Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as the flowers and fields of Meijer Gardens. Opening in September 2006 and organized by Meijer Gardens, Magdalena Abakanowicz: The Drawings will begin a national tour with fifty examples of the artists drawings, many of which will be made public for the first time.

About Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

The 125-acre Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, which currently serves more than 600,000 visitors annually, features Michigan's largest tropical conservatory; the nation's most comprehensive carnivorous plant house; one of the largest children’s gardens in the country; arid and Victorian gardens; outdoor gardens; the Midwest's most comprehensive sculpture experience featuring world-class works by Rodin, Oldenburg, Moore, di Suvero and others; indoor galleries with changing sculpture exhibitions, as well as a 1600-seat outdoor amphitheater, featuring world-renowned musicians every summer, café and gift shop. Meijer Gardens celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 20, 2005. For additional information, please visit http://www.meijergardens.org.

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