Left: Paula Crown, Untitled Aspen Map (yellow), 2021. Acrylic, oil, and inkjet print on flex gesso linen. 60 x 48 in. Right: Paula Crown, Untitled Aspen Map (red), 2021. Acrylic and inkjet print on flex gesso linen.
Palm Springs, CA — This February, the nonprofit Friends of the Desert Mountains will present HEALING NATURE: The Aspen Maps at Intersect Palm Springs. Crown’s vibrant abstractions informed by trail maps represent and correspond with the conservation’s mission to preserve and restore land in the Coachella Valley.
Intersect Palm Springs opens February 10, 2022 at Palm Springs Convention Center.
Crown’s The Aspen Maps series is developed through abstracting, layering, rotating and manipulating existing Aspen Snowmass trails to reveal new perspectives, forms, and patterns. Developed using digital and analog drawing techniques, the most elaborate sketches become paintings, which start as colorful forms on glassy smooth gesso-primed linen, each with a distinct and nuanced palette. Over time, surfaces accrue layer after layer of delicately calibrated and thoughtful brushwork. Crown’s process emulates the landscape, just as the environment changes, a dusting of snow, a storm, evolution, the ever changing topography. Sinuous mark-making evokes an imagined journey, encouraging us to reflect on our impact on this earth and speaks to the role that art can play in fostering a deeper consideration of our natural surroundings.
Proceeds from the sale of The Aspen Map works on view will be donated to support the organization.
“Trails are what is left behind by our gestures, our movements through the landscape. They are evidence of our existence and what we leave in our wake. They are our deep conversations with the terrain around us and mark not only landscapes but the movement of our bodies, our memories, and our own form. It’s an honor to present these works to assist the mission of the incredible Friends of the Desert Mountains ” - Paula Crown, Artist.
“Paula Crown’s paintings offer a powerful way to consider our participation with the land. As stewards of trails in the Coachella Valley, we are inspired by how spending time in our natural environment can spark the imagination and lead to a greater understanding of its impact in our lives.” - Tammy Martin, Executive Director, Friends of the Desert Mountains.
About the Artist
Paula Crown (b. Marblehead, Mass) is a multimedia artist incorporating cutting-edge technology, social activism, and a commitment to sustainability in her studio practice. Crown holds an M.F.A. in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Crown’s solo exhibitions include the Aspen Institute (2013), Dallas Contemporary (2014), Marlborough Gallery, New York (2015), The Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas (2016), 10 Hanover, London (2017), Studio Cannaregio, Venice (2018) concurrent with the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, and Fort Gansevoort, New York (2018). Recent public art installations include; JOKESTER in Aspen, CO (2018), Milwaukee, WI (2020); and the Miami Design District, Miami, FL (2018); #solotogether (Messages for the City), Times Square Arts, New York, NY, which traveled to the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC (2020); and What Are You For?, For Freedoms Awakening Billboard, Boston, MA (2020)She has participated in several group exhibitions internationally, notably For Freedoms at Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY (2016); For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here? at The International Center for Photography, New York, NY (2019); and This is America | USA Today at Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, NL (2020). Crown’s artworks are in numerous public and private collections including Agnes Gund Collection, NY, Tishman Speyer Collection, NY, and The Goss-Michael Foundation in Dallas, TX.
In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Crown to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. She is a member of the board of trustees of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where she chairs the Education Committee. She also serves on the Aspen Institute Committee of the Arts.
Crown lives and works in Aspen, Colorado and Chicago, Illinois.
About Friends of the Desert Mountains
The mission of the Friends of the Desert Mountains is to preserve land, to support education, conservation, and research in the Coachella Valley, and to act as the support organization for the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. As Friends of the Desert Mountains, we are dedicated to building a community of support to help preserve the unique wildlife and scenic beauty of the Coachella Valley and our Desert Mountains. We acquire and preserve wildlands, promote stewardship of trails, conduct educational programs, and support ecological research.
