Memory and the Chromatroposphere

The last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic recently collapsed. Only thirteen percent of the oceans have intact marine ecosystems. Two Hurricanes touched down the same week in the southern United States. California is on fire and few seemed to have noticed that the Republican led congress voted to open the Arctic National Wildlife refuge to oil and gas development for the first time in the history of the country. For all of these reasons, and so many more, it is impossible to deny that the natural resources of our world are being depleted by the spread of environmental degradation. Unless this process is rejected and reversed, we will only have memories of our Chromatropshere, i.e., that rich topology of a green earth and blue ocean that past generations took for granted as a constant of our life-world.

As a response to the spread of grey ecologies — or red ecologies if we’re thinking about San Francisco — the artists included in Memory and the Chromatroposhere celebrate the diversity of color in our environment, even while commenting on the growing climate crisis. Toward this end, they use color to highlight, underscore and connect facts about environmental concerns with the everyday world that we inhabit. As a group, their dramatic use of chroma goes against the tendency to render catastrophes and memories in faded and dull tones because the impact of their images speak to a rising tide of consciousness about the intersection of public policy and planetary concerns, not to mention the consequences thereof. 

By using hybrid means of making and different research-based methodologies, each artist in the show makes us more aware of how our species occupies space, and the many ways that we are losing diverse ecologies of “place”. Through a direct encounter with materiality and different forms of inscription, the artists included in Memory and the Chromatroposhere are engaged in a project of reclamation that concerns our common sense as well as our collective sensibilities. 

Memory and the Chromatroposphere is the fourth installment of Artlink’s exhibition recovery series and brings an offering from Articipant Venue Fine Art Complex 1101.

Artists in the show: Shiva Aliabadi, Krista Davis, Cami Galofre, erika lynne hanson, Molly Koehn, Jonathan Marquis, Lily Reeves, Adam Ross, Lizzy Taber, Kenzie Wells.

Open House: Saturday Oct 3, noon-6pm.

Artist Reception: Oct 3, 6-9pm.

Exhibition Runs: Sept 24- Oct 17

Please Note: In keeping with local and national health recommendations for re-opening businesses we are taking the strictest precautions to sanitize our facilities and provide on-site guidelines for social distancing and other measures. We ask that you please join us in fighting the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask to openings and observing current social distancing guidelines or six feet or more. We will be putting work online for those who would like to view it from home and we are open during the week as well as by appointment for those who want to have private viewings. The mood room has plenty of room to practice safe social distancing but we are limiting patrons who visit the video project room upstairs to 2 per viewing at this time. We will regulate access during regular gallery hours and we ask for your understanding and continued support in keeping our community healthy and safe.


# # #

About Artlink Inc.

Artlink keeps the arts integral to our development by connecting artists, businesses, and the community. Founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization by artists in 1989, the Artlink name is a guiding principle for the organization as it supports the stakeholders of the arts and culture community, amplifying its collective strength. Visit artlinkphx.org to sign up for the Artlink newsletter or connect socially on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About mood room

The mood room is a new gallery concept by Artlink, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, that seeks to address the needs of 21st century artistic practice. More than just an exhibition venue, the mood room is an interdisciplinary art space that was founded in 2020 via a partnership with Park Central and with support from Flinn Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Located in midtown Phoenix, the mood room aims to connect the services that Artlink provides to artists, art venues and partner organizations while supporting cultural creatives through new opportunities to exhibit, engage and grow the influence of their art practice.