'Many Waters: A Minnesota Biennial' exhibit goes with the flow at the M (and beyond)

Kathy Berdan, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·3 min read

Jul. 24—A block down Robert Street, you could say the Mississippi River is just outside the windows of the Minnesota Museum of American Art in downtown St. Paul.

And now, the Mighty Miss and other waters are inside the windows of the M, as well. The exhibit "Many Waters: A Minnesota Biennial," is on display through Oct. 2 in the storefront window galleries on Robert and Fourth streets. The juried exhibit explores the work of more than 50 local artists with connections to the lakes, marshes, streams, rivers and groundwaters in the region. The works were chosen from more than 800 submissions.

The M calls the exhibit a "look into some of the imaginative and dedicated ways that artists and culture bearers from across the state are engaging with water."

The exhibit is also in the M's the skyway entrance and at NewStudio Gallery in St. Paul.

Here are a few of the pieces described by the M:

— A video installation in which Sisseton-Wahpeton media artist Mona Smith weaves together Dakhoìta reflections on the river to foster remembrance, understanding and acknowledgment of relationship to place.

— Zamara Cuyun's kaleidoscopic painting "Midwife" reflects on the relationship between women and water as life givers and sustainers.

— Karen Goulet's quilt honors the water journeys of her Ojibwe, Métis and Sámi/Finnish ancestors, as well as the longing the sky has to see its reflection in the water in the winter months.

— Presley Martin's sculptural installation, for example, is made up of hundreds of pieces of foam he often first mistakes for natural materials and collects from the banks of the Mississippi.

— Annie Hejny creates her paintings — suggestive of gateways to watery worlds beyond human reach — with respectfully gathered Mississippi water and sediment.

According to the news release: "A theme that runs through the exhibition is a concern for the environmental impact of human activity on bodies of water. A selection of projects from a collective of artists and researchers, spanning the Headwaters to the Gulf of the Mississippi River, explore the ongoing devastations of white settler colonialism, as well as indigenous revival along the river." Additional works by artists from this group will be on view at a companion, artist-organized exhibition, "OVERFLOW," at the Q.arma Building, 1224 Quincy St. N.E., Minneapolis, through Oct. 1.

FEATURED ARTISTS

David Andree, Alyssa Baguss, Moira Bateman*, Barbara Bend*, Casey Bennett*, Vernal Bogren Swift*, Kelsey Bosch*, Nick Brown, Ryan Griffis, and Sarah Kanouse with contributions from Rozalinda Borcilã, Dylan A.T. Miner, Heather Parrish, and Corinne Teed, Isabelle Carbonell with contributions from Andres Camacho, Andrea Carlson, Tia-Simone Gardner, John Kim, and Jenny Schmid, Morgan Clifford*, Melissa Cooke Benson, Zamara Cuyun, Emily Donovan*, Gregory Euclide*, Regina Flanagan*, Billy Flynn*, Linda Gammell*, Tia-Simone Gardner, Ruthann Godollei, Karen Goulet*, Ian Hanseworth*, Annie Hejny*, Joan Bemel Iron Moccasin, Ethan Jones, Jes Lee*, Curt Lund, Presley Martin, Charles Matson Lume, James Meyer*, Ben Moren*, Monica Moses Haller*, Brian Holmes, Sarah Nassif*, Lisa Nebenzahl, Kimber Olsen, Kristin Maija Peterson*, Sonja Peterson, Niki Pico*, Alison Price, Lindsay Rhyner, Mona Smith, Moheb Soliman, Sandra Spieler, Holly Newton Swift*, Keith Taylor*, Moira Villiard, Megan Vossler*, Josh Winkler

(— Artists whose work will be on view at NewStudio Gallery are indicated with an asterisk.)

MANY WATERS: A MINNESOTA BIENNIAL OPENING RECEPTION

— What: View artwork featured at NewStudio, and meet some of the artists featured in the exhibition. Light refreshments provided.

— When: 5-8 p.m. Saturday, July 31

— Where: NewStudio Gallery, 2303 Wycliff St., St. Paul

— Plus: Additional programs and activities (including a Family Day on Sept. 12) will take place throughout the exhibition. For more information, go to mmaa.org.