Turn Here: Green Art at the Gersham Y

One of Tim Gaudreau's "Lost Posters" looks for missing coniferous forrest. | Photo Credit: Gersham YThere’s a new art exhibition in town, and its turning heads!

Turn Here, a collection of environmentally-themed art, is now on display at the Borowsky Gallery of the Gershman Y.

The exhibit features four artists, including Philadelphia-local Amie Potsic. The installations focus on local and global environmental problems, such as climate change, soil quality and littering. While the artists’ work is not directly connect, their joint presentation presents a unified message in how our planet needs to be treated.

Potsic’s “Endangered Seasons” photography-on-silk piece points to the beauty and delicacy of our environment, displaying images of forest canopy in each season. The installation was created specifically for this exhibition, and uses over 200 feet of silk, taking up much of the room. Potsic’s past works have been displayed in Greece, Italy and Colombia, as well as multiple U.S. locations.

Facing Potsic’s encompassing installment is Tim Gaudreau’s more hands-on approach in which he photographed his garbage practices. The resulting images created a “self-portrait” to emphasize the individual impact of our waste. The displayed “Self-portrait as Revealed by Trash,” a smaller portion of his complete work, is accompanied by a series of lost-and-found posters, personifying litter and reconnecting the land with its sanctity. The posters feature local “found” pieces of trash found as well as “lost” forests and animals.

Turn Here also includes Xavier Cortada’s recreation of his “Longitudinal Installation,” a window into the global effects of climate change. Cortada traveled to the North Pole for his original “Longitudinal Installation” in which he placed 24 shoes in a circle around the northernmost point of the globe. He then placed its respective pair around the South Pole to create a longitudinal map. Each shoe represented a person in its longitudinal region who is affected by climate change. At the Philly exhibit, a circle of shoes is accompanied by pictures of the original installation, as well as a collection of quotations from each region. Guests are invited to post their own opinions of climate change in their area on a nearby corkboard.

Helen Lessick is the fourth artist included. Her collaborative art project, “Soil Sample: Kenya,” was done with the Kounkuey Design Initiative to promote good soil in Nairobi’s slums. The exhibit is a collection of painted signs stressing the importance of healthy soil. These simple phrases like “Good Soil, Good Food” and “Happy Chicken, Healthy Soil”. The signs will be posted on the walls of a new community center for local farmers and craftsmen in Nairobi.

Turn Here: Artists promoting environmental awareness will be on display in the Borowsky Gallery at The Gershman Y (401 S. Broad St.) until August 12.

To learn more about each artist and gallery hours, visit the Gersham Y website!