Movers and Shapers: Combines, Tractors, and Swathers by Karen Carson

June 1, 2015 - August 29, 2015

Movers and Shapers: Combines, Tractors, and Swathers presented large-scale paintings and related study drawings by mid-career Los Angeles artist Karen Carson depicting the machines that work behind the scenes to keep our supermarkets stocked and silos full.

Carson has lived part-time in rural Montana for the past decade and has explored in her work new ways of dealing with the grandeur of that natural setting. Known for her fearless experimentation, she has created various series that deal with some of the most powerful forces of nature, including forest fires, waterfalls, and windstorms. She turns here to these gigantic motorized masters of nature that have obviated much of the hands-on labor of farming. With virtuosic brushwork and vibrant color, she celebrates these hulk-like machines, relishing their lumbering bodies, wide stances, and geometric appendages. With a sly sense of humor, she humanizes their forms, sublimating their aggressive power so that they appear as friendly, almost sensual giants.