Art Gallery of Guelph hosts Matthew Moore, artist, farmer, and food activist, on August 30, 2017

The Art Gallery of Guelph is pleased to welcome Matthew Moore – multimedia artist, farmer, and food activist – for a dialogue about the intersection of art and agriculture on Wednesday, August 30, 6:30 pm. With a artistic practice that engages issues related to land, food, and sustainability, Moore will speak to his use of documentary tactics, land-based installation, and community engagement as means to deepen agricultural knowledge while increasing consciousness of our relationship to the land and food production. All welcome, free admission.

As cities and their corresponding hinterlands grow both ever larger and ever more disconnected, Moore’s artistic projects insert the land back into public consciousness and recentre our conversations about sustainable practices – including Rotations: Moore Estates, a crop-based installation that tangibly captures changing land use, and the Digital Farm Collective, a global database documenting cultivated plant growth.

In addition to thought-provoking discussion about the social impact of art, attendees will enjoy local organic produce provided courtesy of Guelph-based Ignatius Farm, an organization committed to Community Shared Agriculture – an alternative food access and distribution method linking customers directly to the farm.

Based in Phoenix, Moore’s work involves a combination of social practice, large scale earthworks and built environments meant to instil new insight as well as social change. Recent exhibitions include solo projects and commissions for the Phoenix Art Museum, the Speed Museum, the Sundance Film Festival, the Walker Art Center, MassMoCA, the World Congress of Soil Science in Korea, and Nuit Blanche Toronto, and he has been featured in publications including Art Forum, Art in America, Art Lies, Metropolis, Dwell, and Architecture.

This presentation and the Art Gallery of Guelph’s LAND Studio residency are presented in conjunction with the Musagetes Foundation.

Image detail: Matthew Moore, Rotations: Moore Estates #5, 2006, 35 acre project, sorghum, wheat, C-print, 61 × 76.2 cm