Michael Loderstedt: Groveland Utopia at Lissauer Gallery

Climate control and temperature regulation are usually important tenets of collections stewardship, but this February at the Shaker Historical Museum, we invite the polar vortex inside. Michael Loderstedt will exhibit his recent work, which addresses the impact of climate change – manifested through weather events including everyone’s favorite Arctic jet stream, the polar vortex – on migratory bird behavior.

For this project, entitled Groveland Utopia after Loderstedt’s street name, the artist re-imagines his immediate neighborhood near Lake Erie as a research laboratory of sorts. Photographs of recent weather phenomena are paired with images of birds, forcing the viewer to bear witness to the consequences of climate change for migratory species that depend on the seasonal availability of food and other resources.

Loderstedt also identifies a performative aspect in his work. As a photographer, he must venture outside to capture his images while simultaneously confronting the results of his actions as a carbon producer. Loderstedt says this project has subsequently prompted him to reevaluate his own consumption and household economics. He has incorporated a series of portraits of his son and neighborhood friends juxtaposed with their comments on climate change, as well as a series of broadsheets that map his own calculations regarding personal resource consumption.

Photography, printmaking, artist books, and installation are key features in Loderstedt’s work. He holds a BFA in Printmaking from East Carolina University and received an MFA from Kent State University. His work is in numerous institutions throughout Cleveland including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Progressive Insurance, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and the Cleveland Public Library. He has completed international residencies in Belgium and Germany and had exhibited his work in solo shows at the Santa Reparata Gallery in Florence, Italy and the Kulturrathaus in Dresden, Germany.

Closer to home, Loderstedt is a Distinguished Professor of Art in Print Media / Photography and the Interim Director of the School of Art at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. He lives with his wife, photographer Lori Kella, and their son, Ethan, near the Lake Erie Shore.

The Shaker Historical Museum’s Lissauer Art Gallery at 16740 South Park Blvd in Shaker Heights (Shaker-Lee Road RTA GREEN LINE stop) features art from Northeast Ohio artists. This intimate gallery is designed to encourage new and emerging artists, promote an appreciation of art, and support local artists. We are delighted to bring Loderstedt’s exceptional work to the Lissauer Gallery this winter.

Lissauer Gallery

Shaker Historical Society

16740 South Park Blvd.

Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120

shakerhistoricalsociety.org

216.921.1201

Michael Loderstedt

Groveland Utopia

February 10—April 7, 2017

For more information, call 216.921.1201 or visit our Facebook page.

Images

Michael Loderstedt, Lake Ice & Cormorant, 2016