Setting the Scene

Best known for her Vietnam Veterans Memorial sculpture, Maya Lin has a comprehensive approach to art, architecture and landscape that proves sometimes a minimalist method can have the deepest impact. The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis’ newest exhibit, Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes, seems to fit in perfectly amongst the current debates on global warming and the human condition of the global environment. Consisting of three large-scale installations (2 x 4 Landscape, Blue Lake Pass [pictured] and Water Line) and other accompanying works, Lin’s exhibit is intended to push our normative observations about landscapes and examine the human effect on land. Possibly the most visually impressive large installation of the three is 2 x 4 Landscape, which is built from 65,000 boards and appears to be a steady hill from one perspective and a wave from another. Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes opens on Friday, September 7, with a reception that runs from 7 to 9 p.m.; the show remains up through Sunday, December 30. The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (3750 Washington Boulevard) is open Tuesday through Sunday. For more information on the exhibit or the other opening-weekend events, call 314-535-4660 or visit www.contemporarystl.org.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: Sept. 7. Continues through Dec. 30, 2007