KAFA’s 2018-2019 Awardee, Robert Rhee is in a group exhibition titled the map is not the territory at the Portland Art Museum which is up until May 5th, 2019.
The map is not the territory is part of a triennial series featuring regional artists exploring place and boundaries. This inaugural exhibition focuses along the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean stretching from Oregon through Washington and Vancouver, B.C., up to Alaska. The artists in this exhibition seek to reconceive and reimagine the Northwest. What does it mean to make art in this region today, and what are the immediate inspirations and pressing concerns that drive each artist’s work?
The exhibition title, the map is not the territory, derives from a remark by philosopher Alfred Korzybski, expressing the essential distinction between an object and its representation—or, more broadly, between our beliefs and the underlying reality. Through the field of general semantics, Korzybski’s intent was to improve the ways people interact with one another and the environment, particularly through critical use of words and other symbols in connection to our living experiences. In this vein, each artist has expanded their own practice and ideas while engaging with each other in preparation for the map is not the territory.
Organized by Grace Kook-Anderson, The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Northwest Art, in collaboration with the Museum’s education department.
