GREEN HAZARD: JOSH TONIES
Opening Reception: Postponed
Location: Porto Vista Hotel, Lobby Gallery, 1835 Columbia Street, San Diego, CA 92101,
Website: portovistasd.com/art-program
Curated by Lauren Siry, 1805 Gallery Director
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this April, the Porto Vista Hotel is pleased to announce Green Hazard an art exhibition featuring Josh Tonies’ new multi-channel animation film that examines the environmental impact of golf courses. Porto Vista Hotel will host an opening reception at a later date. In conjunction with Green Hazard, the hotel vending machine will exhibit new artworks from over 25 contemporary artists exploring climate change.
Josh Tonies' animations navigate expansive golf courses that are digitally rendered from USGS and NASA topographic maps, and then edited and landscaped based on observational data of coastal golf resorts around the world. These picturesque, garden spaces that notoriously create a separation of economic and social classes are transformed by climate events using 3D animation software, physics simulations and climate models. These lush green manicured landscapes need vast amounts of resources such as land and water which contribute to increased global temperatures. Ironically, these coastal courses are the first to be affected by rising sea levels.
Although President Donald Trump publicly denies the threat of climate change, Politico reported in 2016, that a permit application for the construction of a seawall to protect his Golf Resort in Ireland was filed by Trump International Golf Links Ireland, citing “global warming and its consequences — increased erosion due to rising sea levels and extreme weather” as the main cause of damage. Green Hazard positions the golf course at the intersection of political and ecological tensions.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Josh Tonies is an artist who works with drawing and the moving image. His work centers around temporary ecological studies that take form as animation, drawing, works on paper and book arts. He is a lecturer on record at the University of San Diego and UC San Diego, teaching courses in film, video art, animation, and studio arts. He has exhibited his work most recently at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, The Center for Fiction in NYC, Comfort Station in Chicago Illinois and the San Diego Museum of Art.
Artist’s website: http://www.joshtonies.com
VEND ARTS: Vend Art is a vending machine exhibition that aims to democratize art distribution and reinvigorate encounters with contemporary art. Rotating exhibitions present affordable artworks 24 hours a day 7 days a week and introduce emerging artists to a larger public audience.
PORTO VISTA HOTEL: Porto Vista Hotel is a boutique hotel in San Diego, California that showcases contemporary local and international artists throughout the hotel, creatively activating unusual and unlikely spaces.