Unbearable Beauty

Visually engaging, powerful, and at times even beautiful, the Moss Arts Center’s newest exhibition, Unbearable Beauty, presents works of art that depict the devastating ways human activity impacts the environment. The exhibition includes photographic work by nationally and internationally recognized artists Edward Burtynsky, Chris Jordan, and Daniel Beltrá; a stunning film installation of one of the largest arctic glacier calving incidents to date by James Balog; and Steven Norton’s arresting soundscape of animal species that are now extinct.

Population growth and the need for expanding agricultural production, industry, relentless urbanization and energy use, mass consumption, and the proliferating manufacturing of products worldwide are some of the root causes of the planet’s current state. Consequences of these actions range from global warming, pollution, and the exponential growth of industrial and commercial waste, to deforestation, diminishing wildlife habitats, and the threat of wildlife extinction.

Curated by Margo Crutchfield, Moss Arts Center curator at large, the exhibition features work from these artists:

Edward Burtynsky
Ruth C. Horton Gallery

Renowned worldwide, photographer Edward Burtynsky is known for his images of industrial projects and their effects on the environment. His photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes explore the scale of human intervention on the Earth’s surface and include colossal mines, quarries, dams, factories, and disposal facilities.

Chris Jordan
Ruth C. Horton Gallery

Chris Jordan is a photographic artist whose work in this exhibition explores mass consumption from a sociological and environmental perspective. In his photographs Jordan translates social and environmental statistics into visible terms, visiting landfills and recycling centers to photograph vast piles of discarded products—cell phones, chargers, circuit boards, and other consumer goods.

Steve Norton
Sherwood Payne Quillen ‘71 Reception Gallery

Steve Norton is a sound artist, musician, and researcher who is currently focused on the gathering of field-recorded sound to use in electroacoustic compositions and improvisational performance. Presented in this exhibition is his four-channel sound installation, Requiem (2018), which was created with the recordings of 10 recently extinct bird species and two species of frogs.

Daniel Beltrá
Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery

Daniel Beltrá’s work over the past two decades has taken him to all seven continents, photographing everything from oil spills, glacier melts, and droughts to the effects of greenhouse gases. Up to four feet high by six feet wide, Beltrá’s panoramic aerial photographs capture the shocking scale of environmental degradation.

James Balog
Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery

James Balog brings the enormity and significance of climate change and the world’s melting glaciers into visual focus in his acclaimed film Chasing Ice (2012). Presented in the exhibition is footage from the film portraying the historic breakup of the Ilulissat Glacier in Western Greenland—a breathtaking calving event that lasted for 75 minutes—due to rising temperatures.

Towards a Better Future
Frances T. Eck Exhibition Corridor

This related component of the exhibition, Towards a Better Future highlights several initiatives currently underway at Virginia Tech to address some of the world’s most critical environmental challenges.

A comprehensive land-grant research institution, Virginia Tech has been recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the top green colleges in the U.S., Canada, and Europe for 11 consecutive years. This presentation explores some of the environmental issues illuminated in “Unbearable Beauty” through the lens of related Virginia Tech research projects, sustainability efforts, national and global resources, and simple everyday changes that are moving the world towards a better future.

On view through April 10, 2021, Towards a Better Future is curated and organized by Meggin Hicklin, Moss Arts Center exhibitions program manager, along with graduate assistants Anthony Pearson and Alexandra Palin.

The Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech presents renowned artists from around the globe and from close to home, with a special focus on experiences that expand cultural awareness and deepen understanding. The center’s galleries and related events are free and open to the public.