Alex MacLean

Exhibitions

A selection of exhibitions that feature the work and career of Alex S. MacLean. 

  • March 3 - 29, 2014Beetles + Huxley Gallery{quote}An artist with a unique perspective - Alex MacLean takes us out of the streets and into the skies, reducing humanity down to the size of a model. A fully licensed pilot, MacLean uses his highly efficient Cessna 182 carbon fibre aeroplane to explore the world recording landscapes, architecture and human behaviour from a bird's eye view. The resulting photographs are thought provoking, yet beautiful, an investigation into humanity's footprint on the natural world. Farming patterns, coastal resorts, military sites and bizarre housing developments are just some of the poignant scenes featured in MacLean's first ever London show.{quote}
  • October 5, 2013Park Plaza CastleArtCetera Auction 2013Paddle8 Online AuctionMore than twenty-five years ago, a group of Boston-area artists came together in response to the AIDS crisis, which was claiming the lives of so many of their friends, fellow artists and colleagues. They responded by creating and organizing the first ARTcetera, a contemporary art auction held at Boston City Hall, to raise money for AIDS Action Committee.Over the years, ARTcetera has grown to become one of New England’s premier art auctions and an essential funding source for AIDS Action. And, while the AIDS epidemic looks nothing like it did 25 years ago, this epidemic and AIDS Action’s work are far from over.Once again, the arts community and AIDS Action will celebrate our extraordinary partnership in this fight to stop the epidemic by preventing new infections and optimizing the health of those living with HIV.
  • Sept 12 - October 6, 2013ArtPrize 2013www.artmuseumgr.org/artprize/The expansion of habitation into the desert reveals how cultural and economic forces are slow to adapt to, and even ignore, the realities of nature. These pictures show land surveyed and divided for ownership and laid-out to be accessed by motorized vehicles, a built landscape that is neither sustainable nor self-sufficient. The settlement pattern defies nature in the face of climate change as other habitats are simultaneously upended along low-lying coastal areas and in forested fire zones. The images question our values and collective reality beyond the settlements seen on these arid lands. MacLean’s powerful and descriptive images provide clues to understanding the relationship between the natural and constructed environments.
  • Sept 12 - October 6, 2013ArtPrize 2013 www.artmuseumgr.org/artprize/The expansion of habitation into the desert reveals how cultural and economic forces are slow to adapt to, and even ignore, the realities of nature. These pictures show land surveyed and divided for ownership and laid-out to be accessed by motorized vehicles, a built landscape that is neither sustainable nor self-sufficient. The settlement pattern defies nature in the face of climate change as other habitats are simultaneously upended along low-lying coastal areas and in forested fire zones. The images question our values and collective reality beyond the settlements seen on these arid lands. MacLean’s powerful and descriptive images provide clues to understanding the relationship between the natural and constructed environments.
  • May 17 - October 7, 2013Metz, Francehttp://www.centrepompidou-metz.frViews from above considers how an elevated perspective, from the first aerial photographs of the mid-nineteenth century to the satellite images, has transformed artists' perception of the world.Covering more than two thousand square metres, the exhibition gives us the power of Icarus and in some five hundred works (paintings, photographs, drawings, films, architecture models, installations, books and journals) offers a singular and spectacular view of modern and contemporary art.There has been a considerable regain in interest in the aerial view over recent years. From the success of Yann Arthus-Bertrand's Earth From Above to the popularity of Google Earth, we are fascinated by this bird'seye view as much for the beauty of the landscapes it reveals as for the feeling of omnipotence it inspires.The exhibition draws on this popularity to return to the origins of aerial photography and explore its impact on the work of artists and, consequently, the history of art.When Nadar took his first aerial photographs from a hot-air balloon in the 1860s, he freed the gaze. To contemplate the world not at eye-level but from a flying machine was to destroy the perspective thinking of the Renaissance, based on the human scale. The moving, floating body is no longer the fixed point that conditions our vision of space. This new, panoramic view blurs landmarks and relief, slowly transforming the land into a flat surface whose visual reference points are no longer distinguishable one from the other.Right up to today, artists, photographers, architects and film-makers have continued to explore the aesthetic and semantic implications of this displaced perspective. Now this fascinating journey is the subject of an unprecedented multidisciplinary exhibition.The exhibition unfolds in eight themed sections – displacement, planimetrics, extension, detachment, domination, topography, urbanisation, supervision – that travel through the modern era, marked by two world wars. Innovative scenography takes visitors through time as well as space: little by little, the {quote}view from above{quote} rises from balcony level to a satellite.Head CuratorAngela Lampe, Curator, National Museum of Modern Art, Centre PompidouAssociate CuratorAlexandra Müller, Research and Exhibition Manager, Centre Pompidou-MetzAssociate Curator for contemporary artAlexandre Quoi, Research and Exhibition Manager, Centre Pompidou-MetzAssociate Curator for FilmTeresa Castro, Senior Lecturer, Université Paris IIIAssociate Curator for PhotographyThierry Gervais, assistant professor, Ryerson University, TorontoAssociate Curator for ArchitectureAurélien Lemonier, Curator, National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou
  • May 17 - October 7, 2013Metz, Francehttp://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr
  • June 14 - September 8, 2013Westport, CTWestport Arts CenterWAC GalleryCurated by Helen Klisser During, Bird’s-Eye View features major contemporary photographs, paintings and drawings from the Andrew and Christine Hall Collection. Each of the works on view depicts a real or imagined landscape from an aerial perspective. Observed from overhead, people, roads, buildings, cities, and the countryside are deconstructed and abstracted. The exhibition features works by Richard Artschwager, Olivio Barbieri, Edward Burtynsky, Christoph Draeger, Fred Herzog, Damian Loeb, Alex MacLean, David Maisel, Richard Misrach, Melanie Smith, Massimo Vitali, and Thomas Wrede.This exhibition is sponsored by the Andrew J. and Christine C. Hall Foundation. Media Sponsor: Image: Massimo Vitali, Rosignano Donna Sola, C-print with Diasec face, 2004, Hall Collection. Image courtesy the Artist.Opening Reception: Friday, June 14, 6 - 8pm.
  • 14 March – 28 April 2013London, Englandhttp://www.somersethouse.org.ukEast Wing Galleries, East Wing. Terrace Rooms & Courtyard Rooms, South WingThis novel exhibition presented by the Positive View Foundation was the first of its kind anywhere to show both the harsh, even brutal realities of the changing environment, as well as its enduring and stunning beauty, it was a wide-ranging and ground-breaking exhibition featuring more than 70 of the world’s most highly regarded photographers from North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia, with many of them showcasing previously unseen and recently completed works. Focusing on our rapidly changing planet the exhibition featured more than 130 original works of art taken by enterprising photographers employing technology ranging from 19th Century plate-camera techniques to the use of planes, drones, robots and even satellites to capture vivid images of earth’s varied terrain – and even distant planets. Many of the major names in photography were represented: Mitch Epstein, Nadav Kander, Robert Adams, Simon Norfolk, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Lee Friedlander, Simon Roberts, Toshio Shibata, Robert Polidori and many others contributing spectacular imagery. Also featured were striking images by a younger generation of photographers: Pieter Hugo, Susan Evans, Ivar Kvaal, Penelope Umbrico, Mathieu Bernard-Reymond, and others.William A. Ewing, the exhibition's curator explained: “Landscape has been and remains one of the most powerful forms of photography, and is even more so in a world which is changing so fast we can hardly keep up. Rising seas, melting glaciers, the ozone hole, desertification, coastal cities under threat - we add to the list everyday. And photographers everywhere are grappling with these problems, creating brilliant pictures which put a vivid face on otherwise abstract issues. These images range from the sublime to the ridiculous; photographers are on the front lines - our eyes and ears. But they also remind us to slow down and appreciate the beauty of the world – often where we least expect it{quote}.Our education pack for Landmark: the Fields of Photography is a downloadable resource for both teachers and students, that provides contextual information on the exhibition and highlights suitable lines of enquiry.Bay ChannelFremont, CaliforniaFilm, Ref #: LS_1802_07
  • April 6 - November 7, 2012The Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Chaumont, France
  • April 6 - November 7, 2012The Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Chaumont, France
  • September 6 - October 2, 2011Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MAReview of the show: here.
  • September 6 - October 2, 2011Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MAReview of the show: here.
  • May 5 - July 2, 201149 Geary Street, 5th FlSan Francisco, CAwww.kochgallery.comConcentrated SolarClark County, NV 2009Digital Capture, Ref #: 091025-0502
  • February 5 - March 15, 2011www.gabriellemaubrie.comGalerie Gabrielle Maubrie24 rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie 75004 Paris FrancePrescott, ArizonaDigital Capture, Ref #: 050216-0111
  • FRAGILE MYTHEN AUF ENERGIE GEBAUTSeptember 10 – November 13, 2010http://www.eres-stiftung.deERES-Stiftung GalleryRömerstr. 15D–80801 Munich, Germanyphone +49 (0)89 388 79 0 79info@eres-stiftung.dewww.eres-stiftung.dePhotographer and pilot Alex MacLean explores the vast and ever increasing development of large areas of land. He captures the changing nature of natural landscapes from the bird’s eye view of his plane: golf courses, suburban developments, even entire cities that devour deserts, lagoons and farmland. In his latest work, MacLean has focused his camera on two cities that are shrouded in myth as well as ecologically endangered: Las Vegas and Venice.Both cities were constructed using enormous amounts of resources in environments normally considered hostile to human settlement. Both are popular travel destinations that are acutely threatened by climate change. MacLean’s photographs are deceptively beautiful in the manner they depict the extravagantly wasteful use of resources from the unusual perspective of high altitudes.The exhibition is a joint presentation of the Eres Stiftung and internationally acclaimed publishing house Schirmer/Mosel, which is also publishing a book of 160 color photographs that illustrate the fragile beauty of these cities, places that are also symbols of the human ability to turn visions into reality.The new photographs of Venice and Las Vegas were taken with the generous support of the Academy of the Arts and the Capital Cultural Fund in Berlin. The exhibition enlargements were funded by the ERES Foundation.
  • Phelps Dodge Large Open Pit Mine and Tailings IBagdad, Arizona, 2005Digital Capture, Ref #: 050214-0164
  • August 29 - September 19, 2010Venice, ItalyCampiello Santa Maria NovaCannaregio 6024, Venice, ItalySponsored by de la Seine a la Seine | Etablissement Public d'Amenagement de La DefenseWorking for EPAD (Etablissement Public d'Amenagement de La Defense), to photograph and document the highrise district three miles outside of Paris, on the Historical axis which runs from le Louvre and through l'Arc de Triomphe, to show EPAD in its original context, as well as look at issues in the surrounding neighborhoods, and conditions for connecting the highrise district with pedestrian spaces. A selection of this study of work was exhibited in the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale as part of a collateral show. A book was published in connection with this show called, “Alex MacLean: Given a Free Hand”, Dominique Carre, Editor.
  • August 29 - September 19, 2010Venice, ItalyCampiello Santa Maria NovaCannaregio 6024, Venice, ItalySponsored by de la Seine a la Seine | Etablissement Public d'Amenagement de La DefenseWorking for EPAD (Etablissement Public d'Amenagement de La Defense), to photograph and document the highrise district three miles outside of Paris, on the Historical axis which runs from le Louvre and through l'Arc de Triomphe, to show EPAD in its original context, as well as look at issues in the surrounding neighborhoods, and conditions for connecting the highrise district with pedestrian spaces. A selection of this study of work was exhibited in the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale as part of a collateral show. A book was published in connection with this show called, “Alex MacLean: Given a Free Hand”, Dominique Carre, Editor.
  • August 29 - September 19, 2010Venice, ItalyCampiello Santa Maria NovaCannaregio 6024, Venice, ItalySponsored by de la Seine a la Seine | Etablissement Public d'Amenagement de La DefenseWorking for EPAD (Etablissement Public d'Amenagement de La Defense), to photograph and document the highrise district three miles outside of Paris, on the Historical axis which runs from le Louvre and through l'Arc de Triomphe, to show EPAD in its original context, as well as look at issues in the surrounding neighborhoods, and conditions for connecting the highrise district with pedestrian spaces. A selection of this study of work was exhibited in the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale as part of a collateral show. A book was published in connection with this show called, “Alex MacLean: Given a Free Hand”, Dominique Carre, Editor.
  • June 5 - September 30, 2009People & Nature: One festival, Two passions La Gacilly Photo Festival 2009Created in 2004 by Jacques Roche, a man passionate about photography and art entrepreneur particularly attentive to the protection of Nature, People & Festival Photo Nature is preparing to inaugurate its 6th edition. Open to all, completely free, the Festival will once again transform the Breton village of La Gacilly in real art gallery en plein air. 200 large format photographs will be presented without interruption for four months from 5 June to 30 September 2009.For more information, visit the Festival's website.Spinnerstown, PADigital Capture, Ref #: 050608-0194Parking lots at this small rural church are larger than the building itself, which has a seating capacity of more than 330.Ref #: 050608-0194
  • January 2009Washington, DCwww.kathleenewinggallery.comAlex S. MacLean was joined by two other photographers (Rob McDonald and Rosamond Purcell) at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery in Washington DC on December 13th to showcase their work and their recent publications. On display were images from OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point.Shown here is a sample of what is on display now through January 2009 at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery.Waltham, MADigital Capture, Ref #: 070312-0093Parking lots paved with impermeable materials quickly send runoff with surface contaminants into streams and sewers, and prevent rainfall infiltration and ground water recharge. In the summer they become heat islands, greatly increasing the surrounding temperatures.Ref #: 070312-0093
  • September 12, 2008 - January 2009In October 2008 Alex MacLean was invited to exhibit a selection of work from his book OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point at the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, a beautiful castle just outside Paris, France.The exhibition is currently on display through January 2009. Please visit the Chaumont website for more information. Welsch, LABefore rice is planted, the earth is flooded with elevated groundwater. This process, known as wet seeding, is extremely water intensive, and pumping can be costly. The flooded land also serves as an ideal environment for methane production. Methane, a major greenhouse gas, is about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
  • September 12, 2008 - January 2009In October 2008 Alex MacLean was invited to exhibit a selection of work from his book OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point at the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, a beautiful castle just outside Paris, France.The exhibition is currently on display through January 2009. Please visit the Chaumont website for more information. Welsch, LABefore rice is planted, the earth is flooded with elevated groundwater. This process, known as wet seeding, is extremely water intensive, and pumping can be costly. The flooded land also serves as an ideal environment for methane production. Methane, a major greenhouse gas, is about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Ref #: 070629-0242
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