Art Exhibition Review: Lake Tahoe

The Tahoe exhibit at the Nevada Museum of Art had many different types of mixed media from all different dates, all the way back to the 1800’s. There were many different landscapes pieces using oil paint to graphite and photographs, which were very intriguing seeing how the lake used to look compared to what it looks like now. There were also digital pieces and different types of sculptures showing parts of the lake or different things that are associated with Lake Tahoe.

            A piece that stood out to me was Legends by Chester Arnold, 2014. This piece came from the California Clark Gallery in San Francisco. This piece is oil on linen and when you first come across the piece, you first notice the size and the colors used. It is a commentary on how the drought is affecting the water level. Arnold shrinks the size of Lake Tahoe that almost looks like an evaporating puddle. In the description of the piece, he wants his viewers to see how the affect of human presence and consumption of natural resources over many years could be to blame for the loss of water.

            In the painting, he shows a lot of clutter left around the lake, like old cans and shoes. The use of color was very enticing and made me want to look at the painting for a while. There was so much detail in everything that he put into the piece. There was a snake in the painting and it looked very realistic, also had other wild life in the piece. In the description, it talks about how the snake sitting next to the lake could be an omen of what’s to come in the next years that could be very serious. Overall I think that this piece was very strong and he got his point across about the drought situation that is affecting the lake.

            Another piece that stood out to me was by Maya Lin. I was really excited that she was a part of this show and that I got to see her work so locally. She had a couple of pieces but the one I want to focus on is Pin River-Tahoe Watershed 2014. This piece is from the collection of the Nevada museum of Art. It is a large-scale wall installation made from thousands of straight pins showing the perimeter of Lake Tahoe and its creeks, streams, and rivers that flow into the lake. This piece drew me in because of how much work it must have taken to install the piece. There were so many pins in the wall that had to be nailed in individually. It shows how the lake works and how many thousands of different systems it features. I liked the simplicity that the piece shows in person but how it conveys the complexity of how the lake is so important.

            This show was one of my favorites that I have ever been to. It was so great to see how much local artist and people from all over the world came together to make this exhibition.
Questions: How long did it take to put this exhibition together? How did they find some many different types of Tahoe art from all around the world?