 | In a region where environmental activism is as much a feature of everyday life as bicycle commuters or persistent rain, relatively few Northwest artists have chosen to focus on environmental issues in their work. Portland painter Michael Brophy, on the other hand, has made the effect of man on the local landscape the principle subject of his art. His large, panoramic canvases, now on display at the Tacoma Art Museum, look unflinchingly at the visual, ecological, and intellectual consequences of logging and dams, highways and subdivisions. The exhibit not only examines our role in shaping the landscape, it also links the present day Northwest with its pioneer past. But how well do these paintings work as art? Joining us with his observations is KUOW art critic, Gary Faigin. |
