MISHKA HENNER

EARTH WORKS

OPENING: 17. 8. 2023 OD 19H
EXHIBITION: 18. 8. – 7. 10. 2023

The EARTH WORKS exhibition presents unique works by Mishka Henner, a world-renowned visual artist from Belgium. Henner employs satellite imagery as the primary source material and stitches together hundreds of high-resolution screenshots from publicly accessible satellite software, resulting in large-format photographs that capture the current form of an industrial landscape. The visually stunning images stand in contrast to the alarming content and thus give a compelling statement not only about contemporary agriculture or energy industry but also about society as a whole.
The “Feedlots” project shows the enormous dimensions of the American meat industry. The thousands of tiny dots are actually the backs of individual animals raised for meat. It used to take five years for a cow to reach its mature slaughter weight, today, that time has been reduced to less than 18 months. The glowing lagoons are then full of toxic substances that first pass through the doped animals’ digestive tracts.
“Oil Fields” on a huge area represent a mosaic of useful areas of the oil and gas industry, which are drastically and irreversibly cutting into a large part of the American landscape. Resembling the bold brush strokes of abstract expressionists, these cuts are actually produced by the hand of one of the most controversial industries.
The third project shows the golden and fluorescent „Evaporating ponds“, the residual by-products of natural gas power plants. While having the function of returning processed wastewater to the environment, the pond‘s mesmerizing washes of colour and texture belie their toxic nature.

Mishka Henner (*1976) is an established conceptual artist from Belgium, based in the UK. He creates artists’ books, films, and photographic projects critiquing cultural and industrial infrastructures. His works have been described as offering impressive yet chilling representations of our present condition. Henner has exhibited in many prestigious institutions around the world, such as the MoMa in New York, the Center Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and many others. He lives and works in Manchester, UK. www.mishkahenner.com

The project is co-funded by the EU through the National Recovery Plan and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Thank you!