Floating World: Brooklyn Bridge, Nick Pedersen

Digital Explorations of the Natural World:
Main Line Art Center Presents Panorama 2016
Feature Exhibition, Enlightened Earth

Through November 5, 2016

Mark Dorf | Julianna Foster | Nick Pedersen

Curated by: Amie Potsic, Executive Director of Main Line Art Center

Panorama Festival & Live Digital Art Presentation with Leo Hylan,
Digital Artist in Residence
Saturday, October 22, 5-9 pm | Free

Enlightened Earth, on view through November 5 at Main Line Art Center in Haverford, explores nature and our complex relationship to its past, present, and feature, through works that engage the photographic medium and digital media by Mark Dorf (New York), Julianna Foster (Philadelphia), and Nick Pedersen (Burlington, NJ).  Curated by the Art Center’s Executive Director and Chief Curator Amie Potsic, Enlightened Earth is the feature exhibition of Panorama: Image-Based Art in the 21^st Century, the Art Center’s 2 month celebration of the photographic image and digital media in contemporary art, featuring over 50 events presented by the Center and its 40+ Partners.
In Enlightened Earth, Pedersen, Foster, and Dorf lead us down a path of multi-layered, multi-media discovery through storytelling, scientific research, and fantastical landscapes. Deeply rooted in environmentalism, Nick Pedersen’s layering of photography and digital media shows concern for the future by depicting the ways in which mankind’s creations have an impact on the planet.  Through photography, video, artist books, and prints, Julianna Foster’s work represents distinct narratives, which are informed by her interest in cinema and storytelling and their relationships to photography. Employing a mix of photography and digital media, Mark Dorf’s work explores the post-analogue experience of society’s interactions with the digital world and its relationship to our natural origins.

Complementing the exhibition, Julianna Foster and Nick Pedersen will both present workshops on their techniques during Main Line Art Center’s Fall Session.  Bookmaking: Self-Publishing 101 with Julianna Foster is on Sunday, Sept. 25 from 1-4 pm, and is $90 for Art Center Members, and $98 for non-members.  Nick Pedersen will offer a 2 week workshop, Imaginary Landscapes: Digital Photomontage, on Thursday, Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 from6:30-9:30 pm for $84 for Art Center Members, and $96 for non-members. Advanced registration is required for both via www.mainlineart.org or610.525.0272.

untiltled 20, Mark Dorf, 2012

Mark Dorf lives and works in New York and earned his BFA at Savannah Collage of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2011, graduating Magna Cum Laude.  He has exhibited internationally at Division Gallery in Toronto, Postmasters Gallery in New York, Outlet Gallery in Brooklyn, The Lima Museum of Contemporary Art, Mobile World Centre in Barcelona, Harbor Gallery in New York, SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, and Phoenix Gallery in New York.  He has been awarded fellowships to artist residencies in Iceland, Czechoslovakia, Peru, New York, and Colorado and received the Mayer Foundation Grant in 2015.  His work has been published in Surface Magazine, Granta Magazine, and FOAM Magazine and has published two monographs on his work:  Emergence (2015) and Translations (2016).  His work is featured in collections at the Deutsche Bank, the Fleet Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Dorf was the Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Winner in 2015 and has forthcoming exhibitions at the Untitled Art Fair in Miami and the Prague Botanical Gardens in Czechoslovakia.

Once You Were an Island 3 Julianna Foster 2015

Based in Philadelphia, Julianna Foster is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Photography at the University of the Arts and has been a guest lecturer at Rowan University and Temple University.  She received a BFA in Design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2001 and an MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from the University of the Arts in 2006.  Foster was an artist member of Vox Populi Gallery in Philadelphia from 2006 to 2013, where she has had four solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in New Orleans, London, and New York. Solo exhibitions in Philadelphia include the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Painted Bride Art Center, Fleisher Art Memorial – Wind Challenge 2013, and Gravy Studio and Gallery.  Select group exhibitions include shows at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Front Gallery in New Orleans, Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, and Power Plant Gallery in Durham.  Additionally, her work has been published in Conveyor Magazine, Proof Magazine, Cleaver Magazine, and Good Game Magazine.  Foster was a 2014 artist in residence at the Philadelphia Photo Art Center and has participated in international group exhibitions in England, Romania, Spain, Korea, and Bulgaria.

Nick Pedersen is a photographer and digital artist based in the Philadelphia area who holds a BFA in Photography and an MFA in Digital Arts from Pratt Institute in New York.  He has exhibited in galleries across the country and internationally, including the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia, the Griffin Museum of Photography in Massachusetts, Auguste Clown Gallery in Australia, the San Francisco Center for the Book, the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, The Banff Center in Canada, and Art Basel Miami. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as After Capture, Beautiful Decay, Juxtapoz, Hi-Fructose, and Empty Kingdom.  And, he has published two artist books featuring his long-term personal projects Sumeru and Ultima. Pedersen received the Stellar Art Award from Digital Arts California in 2013 and was a Photography Finalist in 2011 for the Adobe Design Achievement Awards.  He has recently completed artist residencies at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada and the Gullkistan Residency in Iceland.  Pedersen was featured on WHYY’s Articulate in 2016, which includes an interview and footage of his artistic process taking photographs on location in the city of Philadelphia.

Amie Potsic began her tenure as Executive Director and Chief Curator of Main Line Art Center in July of 2012.  Prior to that, she served as Director of Gallery 339 and Director of the Career Development Program at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) in Philadelphia where she curated exhibitions and planned professional development programming for emerging and professional artists. Potsic has curated over 80 exhibitions at venues including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and Moore College of Art & Design. Potsic is also an established photographer and installation artist who has exhibited her work internationally in Greece, Italy, Colombia, and the United Kingdom as well as in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New York.  In addition, she is currently Chair of the Art In City Hall Artistic Advisory Board to the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy.

Panorama: Image-Based Art in the 21^st Century, is Main Line Art Center’s celebration of the photographic image and digital media and their expansive roles in contemporary mediums like digital photography, printmaking, video, film, animation, and gaming design.  Anchored by Enlightened Earth and a dynamic and interactive evening festival and digital art presentation at Main Line Art Center on Saturday, October 22 from 5 to 9 pm, Panorama features over 50 events over the course of 2 months presented by 40+ Partners and the Art Center, including physical and virtual exhibitions, lectures, portfolio reviews, and educational programs held at the Art Center led by accomplished artists who utilize digital technology to deliver the unexpected.  Panorama is supported  in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and PA Council on the Arts, as well as Business Partners Wilkie Lexus, Main Line Today, Philadelphia Media Network, PECO, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Main Line Media News, Merion Art & Repro, and Stage Trip Productions (as of 8/25/2016).  Panorama is DesignPhiladelphia feature event.  For a complete list ofPanorama programs, download the digital guide: www.mainlineart.org/panorama2016.

Main Line Art Center is the community’s home to discover, create, and experience visual art. The mission of Main Line Art Center is to inspire and engage people of all ages, abilities, and economic means in visual art through education, exhibitions, and experiences. Committed to increasing the visibility and accessibility of art, the Art Center presents innovative exhibitions and events in the community, including Panorama: Image-Based Art in the 21st Century, a Greater Philadelphia-wide celebration of the photographic image and digital media.   Main Line Art Center’s educational offerings for all ages, abilities, and economic means span from traditional to contemporary, and are all held to the highest level of excellence.  In 2015, Main Line Art Center received the Commitment to Cultural Access Award from Art-Reach for the Center’s Accessible Art Programs for children and adults with disabilities, now in their 52nd year. Additionally, the Art Center grants over $12,000 in need-based scholarships annually. Last year, Main Line Art Center engaged 21,000 people through classes, exhibitions, and Summer Art Camp, and touched the lives of over 78,000 through Exhibitions in the Community and festivals across the Philadelphia area.

Main Line Art Center is located at 746 Panmure Road in Haverford, PA, just off of Lancaster Avenue. The Art Center is easily accessible from public transportation and offers abundant free parking. For more information about Panorama, please visit www.mainlineart.org/panorama2016 or call 610.525.0272.

Thank you to Main Line Art Center for the content of this post