Madison, Wisconsin— From October 17, 2009 through January 3, 2010, the Chazen will exhibit the twisting, jumbled topography of artist Nicola López. One might be tempted to call her a landscape artist, but not in any traditional understanding of the words. The works in Nicola López: Urban Transformations are not pastoral rural scenes but unpredictable urban worlds built with the imagery of debris from our manufactured, technological world.

López’s artwork ranges from small prints and collages to larger-than-life installations. Her primary media are drawing, intaglio, woodcut, and photolithography. She prefers drawing and printmaking because they reflect both the trace of the artist’s hand and the automation and mass production we rely on to create our modern world. Her works are complex; she mixes media and often constructs three-dimensional collages and installations from cut-out and repieced prints. By reconfiguring the urban environment López creates a wondrously messy and dizzying new place. Her works are exaggerated and many-layered, a cumulative territory reflecting cycles of building, demolition, and rebuilding. Her perspective often puts the viewer in the center of this tangled landscape, immersed in the refuse of cast-off and reused objects.

In Nicola López: Urban Transformations, a satellite tower morphs to resemble an expansive gnarled tree; televisions and ductwork and blacksmith hammers seem to swirl away as if caught in a tornado; rampant pipes and girders proliferate along the wall, spilling onto the floor, and their contents pour out to feed flowers that spring up to claim the territory. The cityscapes can be disorienting, yet the artist provides signs to read the landscape. The artist sees her work as a deeply personal antidote to the on-demand consumerscape; it represents the “attempt at as an individual to come up with a system of navigating this overwhelming landscape instead of simply consuming one.” The power to transform is critical to the artistic process, and also to human experience.

An illustrated exhibition catalogue is available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

Events
• PREVIEW RECEPTION AND ARTIST TALK
Friday October 16, 5:30 p.m. Nicola López will talk about her work.

6:30–8 p.m. Opening preview reception for Nicola López: Urban Transformations. Music by Tapas Musicales. Refreshments and a cash bar.

Generous local support for this exhibition has been provided by the Chazen Museum of Art Council, Hilldale Fund, Brittingham Fund, and Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Return to Current Exhibitions

The Chazen Museum of Art is open Tuesdays–Fridays 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission to galleries and educational events is free. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is accessible to wheelchairs from the north entrance (nearest to Library Mall). An elevator is down the corridor to the right.

Parking is available at the City of Madison State Street Campus Ramp (entrances on Frances and Lake streets) and in the University Square parking ramp, entrance on Lake Street. Metered parking is available in the lower level of UW Lot 46, entrances on Lake and Frances streets. Evening and weekend parking is also available in UW Lot 83 under Fluno Center, entrance on Frances Street, and in UW Lot 7 under Grainger Hall, entrance on Brooks Street between University Avenue and Johnson Street.

The Chazen will provide sign language interpreters for associated programs by three-week advance request to Anne Lambert, Curator of Education, weekdays, (608) 263-4421 (voice).