Simen Johan | Newman Lecture on Photography

Simen Johan (born 1973) is a Norwegian contemporary artist, photographer, and sculptor living in New York City. In an interview with National Geographic, Johan said, “Some of my work emulates traditional nature photography, and there’s some intended irony in that. But there’s also sincerity, because I really do enjoy making beautiful images of nature. Beauty alone, though, doesn’t echo my experience of the world, which is more complex and multilayered, so in my versions of ‘nature photography’ I also incorporate darker qualities. … The work is multilayered and open-ended, with biblical as well as political references scattered throughout, but ultimately it’s a visceral response that I’m after.”

The recently acquired Untitled #181, a zebra in profile standing in a lush jungle landscape with many palm leaves, from the series Until the Kingdom Comes, is on view in the Harrison Photography Gallery.

Co-presented with Bethel University Galleries, where Until the Kingdom Comes is on exhibit in its Olson Gallery, September 7–December 18.

Generous support provided by the Arnold and Augusta Newman Foundation.

$10; $5 MIA members, free for Photography & New Media and Contemporary Art Affinity Group members. To register, call (612) 870-6323 or reserve online.