Altering Perceptions: Art Exhibition Reinforces International Real Estate Firm's Green Message

Nov. 12, 2009 - PRLog -- Hines, the international real estate firm, is sponsoring "The Altered Landscape," an environmentally themed art exhibition, in the Lobby Gallery at 499 Park Avenue, New York City, the 28 story, Energy Star rated, office tower it owns and manages, from November 11, 2009 through February 12, 2010. "Since Hines has been an industry leader in sustainable development for over half a century, this exhibit is a unique way for Hines to draw attention to the building's Energy Star rating, reinforce its Green message and inspire environmentally friendly actions amongst its tenants, visitors, and staff," says Dorothy Solomon, curator of the show and President of DSA Fine Arts Ltd., an art consulting firm.

The exhibition is open to the public during normal business hours and features the work of five contemporary artists who share a deep understanding of the precariousness of our relationship to the natural world. They use art as leverage to address the pervasive inability of humanity to integrate with the rest of nature. Each artist's distinctive approach conveys these ideas profoundly, capturing our imagination and helping us see things from a new perspective.

Jay Hart 's highly detailed digital images of enhanced distant views of extraordinary natural landforms reveal the history of Earth's geologic processes and natural development. His images give us the ability to literally rise above the clutter of surface detail, to examine the structure of the whole, and to get a palpable sense of the planet as a living organism.

David Maisel's aerial photographs from his Terminal Mirage series feature exquisite cropped compositions and astonishing color. His intent is to portray the impact that mankind has had on the natural landscape and he creates a dynamic and breathtaking tension between the visual beauty of his images and the staggering environmental devastation they suggest.

Kim Keever constructs and photographs large, dramatic dioramas of geological formations and imaginary worlds in a 100-gallon fish tank in his studio, resulting in expansive atmospheric landscapes. His images recall embedded notions of nature as the embodiment of the sublime, while at the same time, asserting the artificiality of that ideal. Like dream-scapes, these hazy vistas are remote but inviting, exotic but strangely familiar. They present nature as a place of otherworldly ethereal beauty - a place that is ultimately accessible only through the imagination.

Adapting the visual vocabulary of children's book illustration to large-scale works, Randy Bolton uses wry humor and irony to explore relations between humans and the physical world. Employing succinct narrative scenarios, Bolton's work presents human psychology in a perpetual state of contradiction, ambiguity and missed connections, where hope of integration with the natural world may indeed elude us, doomed to be lost in the simple bumbling of our day-to-day existence.

Stephanie Lempert's text-based photographs document several success stories, where people have begun to take some measure of responsibility for past actions in relation to the natural environment. Her picturesque images of public parks that have been built upon waste sites are overlaid with text that describes details of the conversion process. Her work exudes optimism, asserting a re-conception of nature from the ashes of our misdeeds, and proposing the possibility that, if put to the right ends, human ingenuity might find an antidote to human excess.

While scientific and economic arguments for a sustainable future are compelling, it seems they are not enough to convince us to change our ways. In order to do so, we first have to alter our perceptions about our relationship to Nature. Art is a powerful tool for doing this, for it has always helped move society in new directions. Hines' support of this exhibition will help raise awareness about the need to create a sustainable future and stimulate further thought and dialogue about the choices we make, and actions we take, in our homes, our workplace and in our communities.

Hines is hosting an artist's reception from 5:30 - 7:30, Thursday, November 19, 2009, and the public is invited.

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DSA Fine Arts Ltd. is a fine art consultancy to major corporations, professional firms, and other
organizations in the public and private sector, offering a full range of high-caliber, individualized fine art services.

We work with top executives from diverse industries, helping them define, design, implement, manage, and maintain their corporate art programs and achieve their business objectives in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Our ability to meet the changing needs of a diverse clientele have earned us a reputation for innovative ideas, exceptional performance and outstanding service. Companies such as Altria, AT&T, Doubleday, Hines, Pfizer, and US Trust, among others, have benefited from our expertise and our consultative approach to problem solving. We add value to each art program by providing creative solutions that support client's branding, image-building, community relations and employee retention efforts.