Video Crossing Series: Mary Lucier

Mary Lucier’s "The Plains of Sweet Regret" (2004) is a five-channel video installation that takes the viewer on a journey through vast expanses of the Northern Plains, where resilient individuals continue to make their lives in both occupied and abandoned towns and farmsteads. Accompanied by a resonant electronic soundtrack composed by the artist’s long-time collaborator Earl Howard, the installation creates a melancholy, yet unsentimental, tone as Lucier’s camera brings us to the intimate ruins of uninhabited places.

The Video Crossings Series is a contemporary video dialogue inspired by historical works of art of American, Southwest and Mexican origin on view in Border Crossings: Mexico and the American Southwest. Curated by Betsy Fahlman, Adjunct Curator of American Art and Vanessa Davidson, Lampe Curator of Latin American Art, this installation represents a cultural conversation between Mexico and the United States where physical demarcations, such as border walls, no longer exist.

Video Crossings was conceived by Gilbert Vicario, The Selig Family Chief Curator as way to continue the spirit of collaboration between museum colleagues but also to activate the historic works with contemporary dialogues that allow younger audiences new entry points of discovery. The selection of artists for Video Crossings is inspired by these incredible objects and activates the gallery space in new and exciting ways. The works of art by the four Video Crossings artists are inspired by different aspects of the historic works on display – culture, landscape, history and weather – and articulated through immersive video installations filled with color, light, and sound.


Video Crossings Series: Mary Lucier is organized by Phoenix Art Museum. It is made possible through the generosity of donors to the Museum's annual fund.


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http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/vcs-...