Antarctica may seem an unlikely artistic source and subject, yet Lucy + Jorge Orta have turned to that frigid continent as inspiration for their latest creative endeavour. Open this week, Jane Lombard Gallery in New York’s Chelsea district is showcasing the couple’s first US exhibition, ‘Antarctica’, which runs until 20 February.
It began with the Paris-based husband and wife team seeking to posit a translation of the climate change crisis in artistic terms. Back in 2007, they set off on an expedition to the South Pole to create an art installation as part of the End of the World Biennale in Ushuaia, Argentina.
‘We wanted to spotlight critical environmental concerns by first focusing on the fast melting polar ice cap,’ says Lucy Orta, speaking from Moulins in France where the couple have a vast studio and cultural complex.
Once there, the Ortas created the monumental installation Antarctic Village, comprised of 50 dome-like sculptures, onto which they stitched myriad flags from countries around the globe.
On view in the gallery is one of the work's domes, measuring six feet in diameter. All of the works in the show also take their cues from their expedition.
There’s also a participatory element to the newest iteration of the duo's travelling installation, Antarctic World Passport Delivery Bureau, which was presented during the COP21 UN Climate Summit last year at Paris' Grand Palais. By stepping into this loft-like structure, constructed of reclaimed wood and kitted out with a picnic set and more, visitors can register to receive a numbered Antarctica World Passport in exchange for a pledge to support the project’s principle to take action against global warming and aim for peace. To date, the Ortas have issued some 12,000 passports.
The Paris-based husband and wife team were inspired to explore the climate change crisis in artistic terms, initiating their project by setting off on an expedition to the South Pole in 2007. Pictured: Antarctic Village – No Borders Dome Dwelling, 2007
‘We wanted to spotlight critical environmental concerns by first focusing on the fast melting polar ice cap,’ says Lucy Orta. Pictured: Antarctica World Passport Mobile Delivery Bureau, 2008
Antarctic Village – No Borders, Drop Parachute, 2007–08
The couple made their own interpretations of survival kits. Pictured left: Life Line – Survival Kit, 2008. Right: Life Line – Survival Kit, 2008
Working sketches for Antarctica – Drop Parachute, 2008 (left) and Antarctica – Life Line, 2008 (right)
INFORMATION
'Lucy + Jorge Orta: Antarctica' is on view until 20 February. For more information, visit Jane Lombard Gallery's website
Photography courtesy of the artists and gallery
ADDRESS
Jane Lombard Gallery
518 West 19th Street
New York, NY 10011
-
Inside Alessandro Michele’s showstopping debut haute couture show for ValentinoThis afternoon in Paris (29 Janaury 2025), the Italian designer hit new heights with an eclectic, era-traversing couture collection for Valentino
-
Inside Bell Labs, the modernist vision behind Severance's minimalist settingWe explore the history of Bell Labs - now known as Bell Works - the modernist Eero Saarinen-designed facility in New Jersey, which inspired the dystopian minimalist setting of 'Severance'
-
Toronto’s DesignTO 2025 highlights – design and art to see across the cityAt DesignTO, the largest festival of its kind in Canada, determined artists and designers gather in Toronto in full embrace of chilly weather. Our on-the-ground correspondent reports on its standout moments
-
Sundance Film Festival 2025: The films we can't wait to watchSundance Film Festival, which runs 23 January - 2 February, has long been considered a hub of cinematic innovation. These are the ones to watch from this year’s premieres
-
What is RedNote? Inside the social media app drawing American users ahead of the US TikTok banDownloads of the Chinese-owned platform have spiked as US users look for an alternative to TikTok, which faces a ban on national security grounds. What is Rednote, and what are the implications of its ascent?
-
Architecture and the new world: The Brutalist reframes the American dreamBrady Corbet’s third feature film, The Brutalist, demonstrates how violence is a building block for ideology
-
Inside Luna Luna: the amusement park designed by artists lands in New York‘Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy’ – featuring rides by Basquiat, Lichtenstein, Hockney, Haring, and Dalí – has opened at The Shed
-
Henni Alftan’s paintings frame everyday moments in cinematic renditionsConcurrent exhibitions in New York and Shanghai celebrate the mesmerising mystery in Henni Alftan’s paintings
-
Brutalism in film: the beautiful house that forms the backdrop to The Room Next DoorThe Room Next Door's production designer discusses mood-boarding and scene-setting for a moving film about friendship, fragility and the final curtain
-
'There’s an anxiety under all of it': Violet Dennison in New YorkViolet Dennison debuts abstract paintings with new show 'Damaged Self' at Tara Downs Gallery
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
