Issue No. 28 – Control

What is the nature of control? The desire for it—and to be free of it—are essential parts of both life and art.

Andrew Moore: Dirt Meridian

(c) Andrew Moore. The Yellow Porch, Sheridan County, Neb. 

Andrew Moore: Dirt Meridian

The Yancy Richardson gallery filled with buzzing urbanites on January 9th to see the opening of Dirt Meridian, a solo exhibition by the prolific photographer, Andrew Moore. New Yorkers found themselves at awe viewing the desolate and vast rural scenes shot by Moore along the 100th meridian west; the longitude line which runs through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. 

Moore does an outstanding job encapsulating these expansive and hallow landscapes within a frame, as to tell a story, and reveal the indentities and lost identities of middle America. He began photographing this project in 2005 and befriended many who live there. The area is in constant conflict with natural forces and the lifestyle is grueling, isolated and requires a shrewd understanding of the land, weather and agriculture.

Moore describes: “Whatʼs remarkable about the 100th meridian is that as the very center line of this country, the absolute divide between East and West, it teeters between being lost in time, so to speak, yet at the same moment itʼs highly affected by large scale global forces, such as climate change, energy exploration, resource management, and food production. All these issues directly affect the land along the hundredth meridian and are connected to the history of the land since it was first settled. My goal for this project is to present these changes and transformations within and alongside the enduring myths of this quintessential “American” landscape.”

Dirt Meridian runs from January 9th until February 15th, 2014.

Yancy Richardson Gallery, 525 West 22nd Street, NY, NY 10011

Text and photos by Carlos J. Fonts

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Andrew Moore. Pronghorns, Niobrara County, Wyo.

Harry Callahan: City

Alex Prager: Face in the Crowd