Ecotopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video

In a time of rampant natural disasters and urgent concerns about global environmental change, this exhibition demonstrates the ways in which the most interesting and engaging contemporary artists view the natural world. Shattering the stereotypes of landscape and nature photography, the thirty-nine international artists included in this survey boldly examine new concepts of the natural sphere occasioned by twenty-first-century technologies; images of destructive ecological engagement; and visions of our future interactions with the environment. Considering nature in the broadest sense, this exhibition reflects new perspectives on the planet that sustains, enchants, and increasingly frightens us.

Robert Adams, Doug Aitken, Allora & Calzadilla, Wout Berger, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, Patrick Brown, Catherine Chalmers, Stéphane Couturier, Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak, Yannick Demmerle, Goran Devic, Mark Dion, Sam Easterson, Mitch Epstein, Joan Fontcuberta, Noriko Furunishi, Marine Hugonnier, Francesco Jodice, Harri Kallio, Vincent Laforet, Christopher LaMarca, An-My Lê, David Maisel, Mary Mattingly, Gilles Mingasson, Simon Norfolk, The Otolith Group, Sophie Ristelhueber, Clifford Ross, Thomas Ruff, Carlos & Jason Sanchez, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Victor Schrager, Simon Starling, Kim Stringfellow, Diana Thater, Wang Qingsong

Robert Adams
Coos County, Oregon, 1999
© Robert Adams
Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

Doug Aitken
Plateau, 2002
© Doug Aitken
Private collection, courtesy the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia

Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla
Amphibious (Login-Logout), 2005
Video still
© Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla

Wout Berger
Ruigoord 3, 2002
© Wout Berger
Courtesy Galerie Van Kranendonk, The Hague

Patrick Brown
Black Market: The Trafficking of Endangered Species in Asia, 2002–5
© Patrick Brown
Courtesy Patrick Brown/Panos Pictures

Catherine ChalmersSafari, 2006
Video still
© Catherine Chalmers
Courtesy the artist

Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg
From the series "Forest," 2005
© Oliver Chanarin and Adam Broomberg

Stéphane Couturier
Proctor Valley, San Diego, 2004
© Stéphane Couturier
Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, and Galerie Polaris, Paris

Yannick Demmerle
From the series "Les Nuits Étranges," Untitled (#6), 2004
© Yannick Demmerle
Courtesy Arndt & Partner

Mark Dion
The Bureau of Remote Wildlife Surveillance, 2006
© Mark Dion
Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York

Sam Easterson
From the series "Animal Vegetable Video," 1998–present
© Sam Easterson
Courtesy Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

A picture of houses next to a nuclear plant.

Mitch Epstein
Amos Coal Power Plant, 2004
© Mitch Epstein/Black River Productions, Ltd.

Joan Fontcuberta
Orogenesis: Brandt, 2006
© Joan Fontcuberta
Courtesy Zabriskie Gallery, New York

Noriko Furunishi
Untitled (Grey Dry Stream), 2005
© Noriko Furunishi
Courtesy Murray Guy, New York

Marine Hugonnier
From Last Tour, 2004
© Marine Hugonnier
Courtesy Max Wigram Gallery

A old couple holding a photo of a young man in a suit and tie.

Francesco Jodice
From Natura: Il Caso Montemaggiore, 2001
© Francesco Jodice
Courtesy Photo & Contemporary

Harri Kallio
Lion Mountain #5, Mauritius, 2004
From The Dodo and Mauritius Island: Imaginary Encounters, 2004
© Harri Kallio
Courtesy Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York

Someone waving a white flag on the top of a flooded building.

Vincent Laforet
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Digital image projection
Courtesy Vincent Laforet/The New York Times

A picture of a man's legs with tree tattoos.

Christopher LaMarca
From "Forest Defenders," 2005
© Christopher LaMarca/Redux

A picture of the landscape from a bird's eye view.

David Maisel
Surveillance 973-10, 2005
© David Maisel
Courtesy Von Lintel Gallery

Mary Mattingly
The New Mobility of Home (The Nobility of Mobility), 2004
© Mary Mattingly
Courtesy Robert Mann Gallery

A northern native American sitting on the back of a motorboat.

Gilles Mingasson
From The End of Shishmaref: Global Warming, 2005
© Gilles Mingasson
Courtesy Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images

Simon Norfolk
The North Gate of Baghdad (After Corot), 2003
From the series "Scenes from a Liberated Iraq," 2003
© Simon Norfolk
Courtesy Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York

A woman sleeping on her side while a man in the background looks onward.

The Otolith Group
From Otolith, 2003
© The Otolith Group
Courtesy the artists

Two hands, a bird perched on each one, reaching out through a cotton sheet.

A picture of the lake with mountains in the background.

Three dogs viciously barking at each other.

Carlos and Jason Sanchez
Natural Selection, 2005
© Carlos and Jason Sanchez
Courtesy the artists, Claire Oliver Fine Art, New York, and Torch Gallery, Amsterdam

Alessandra Sanguinetti
(Untitled) XVII
From the series "On the Sixth Day," 1996–2004
© Alessandra Sanguinetti
Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

Two hands raised towards each other with a clear plastic barrier between them.

Victor Schrager
From the series "Bird Hand," 1994–2001, Black and White Warblers
© Victor Schrager
Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery

A tiger projected on a screen, with the rest of the empty room bathed in green light.

Special Thanks

Ecotopia is organized by ICP curators Brian Wallis, Christopher Phillips, Edward Earle, and Carol Squiers, and assistant curator Joanna Lehan, and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Additional support provided by Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art.