Oolite Arts’ new exhibition presents an expansive view of landscapes — ranging from literal to the imagined and alternative realities created with artificial intelligence. Through their differing mediums and viewpoints, each of the 15 resident artists featured in “Landscape of Realities” explores how surroundings leave an imprint on people’s lives.

“Our geographies shape our identity,” said exhibition Curator Jennifer Inacio, who is the associate curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami. “In a city where so many people come from somewhere else, this exhibition is a moment to consider how we as a community are influenced by our current and past landscapes, and how we are in turn influencing them.”

Alejandra Moros, Glassy x 2022, Oil on canvas,
Courtesy of the artist

Several of the pieces are realistic in nature, including Matt Forehand’s painting of a sports field surrounded by lush vegetation and Reginald O’Neal’s portrait of an Overtown apartment complex near his childhood home. Diana Eusebio, meanwhile, draws from the South Florida landscape to create her art, turning seeds into natural dyes for clothing that will be displayed in the gallery. In addition, the Love the Everglades Movement is creating an installation titled “Archeology of a Prayer,” which offers a glimpse of how the organization came about by using ceremonies to advocate for the importance of caring for water sources.

AdrienneRose Gionta uses artificial intelligence technologies to create an entirely new, digital landscape. Gionta’s work analyzes cultural assumptions around beauty standards and employs avatars to create inclusive, digital worlds for “fat-bodied” women. For this exhibition, Gionta fed prompts into artificial intelligence technologies to create a series of a woman in a cave, exploring how AI portrays overweight women.

From the series ‘Rest as Reparations’, 2022, Courtesy of Amir Aghareb

The artists in the exhibition include Gionta, Alberto Checa, Alejandra Moros, Carolina Cueva, Eusebio, Ema Ri, Friday, Liene Bosquê, Love the Everglades Movement: Rev. Houston R. Cypress and Jean Sarmiento, Forehand, Onajide Shabaka, Rose Marie Cromwell, O’Neal and Yucef Merhi.

“Landscape of Realities” opens April 19 with a 6 p.m. press preview, and a reception beginning at 7 p.m. at 924 Lincoln Road. It will be on display through June 25.

This is a Hy-Lo News Staff Report.