BALTIMORE, MD.- The Baltimore Museum of Art is presenting Phaan Howng: The Succession of Nature, an immersive experience that highlights local environmental issues using intense, unnatural colors inspired by toxic waste. On view through August 2018, the installation was created by Baltimore-based artist Phaan Howng in partnership with Blue Water Baltimore and is on view in the Commons gallery adjacent to the Imagining Home exhibition in the BMA’s Patricia and Mark Joseph Education Center.
“I am excited for visitors to engage playfully with the space while reconsidering the impact of their personal engagement with the environment both locally and globally,” said artist Phaan Howng.
Phaan Howng: The Succession of Nature is part of the BMA’s Commons Collaboration initiative, which commissions an artist and non-profit to work together on an installation and offer a series of public programs related to Imagining Home. Phaan Howng and Blue Water Baltimore teamed up to create a colorful, all-encompassing space that immerses and disorients viewers to spark dialogue about current ecological crises brought on by the Anthropocene (human-influenced) age. The installation and accompanying suite of programs will raise awareness about the protection and restoration of Baltimore’s waterways and their important role in public health and civic life. This is the third year of the Commons Collaboration project.
“Blue Water Baltimore is delighted to be collaborating with the Baltimore Museum of Art and Phaan Howng on The Succession of Nature,” said Michel Anderson, Education & Outreach Manager at Blue Water Baltimore. “Art and science are often seen as being opposing disciplines, but this partnership demonstrates how they can be fused to offer new, creative educational programming. Our aim is to excite the residents of Baltimore to take action to restore the health our urban watershed and ensure Phaan's unique vision remains safely confined to the realm of artistic expression.”
Phaan Howng (American, b. 1982) is a painter, sculptor, installation, and performance artist based in Baltimore. She received an MFA in multidisciplinary art from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she is a faculty language learning instructor. The multidisciplinary artist has been awarded residences at Windy Mowing, Halifax, VT (2015); Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia (2012); and Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT (2005). Howng has also received honors for her recent work and has given artist talks regionally. Her solo and group exhibitions include Biological Controls: If It Bleeds We Can Kill It at School 33 Art Center, Baltimore; Strange Genitals, Art F City, Brooklyn; Satellite Art Show, Miami Beach; and Instigate. Activate: No Place, No You or Me, Arlington Arts Center.
