"Moon No. 1 (36-inch telescope, McDonald Observatory)"
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle FineArt Pearl (285 gsm, 100% cellulose), Signed
2004
Edition 22 of 50
5"x 5" (unframed)
12" x 12" (framed)

About the Piece

In September and October of 2004, Blumenfeld was invited to Marfa, Texas, as Ballroom Marfa's inaugural artist-in-residence. Through the generosity of the McDonald Observatory, Blumenfeld was granted the rare opportunity to work on-site on the main peak of the observatory in one of the astronomers' houses. During her two-month stay, Blumenfeld was offered a night of imaging through the observatory's 36-inch telescope, creating a small series of works depicting the lunar surface. "Moon No. 1" is from this series.

About the Artist

Erika Blumenfeld is a transdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of art, science, nature, and culture. Blumenfeld's research-based practice is motivated by the wonder of natural phenomena, often leading her to collaborate with scientists and research institutions, including NASA, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, McDonald Observatory, and the South African National Antarctic Program. Blumenfeld is a Guggenheim Fellow, Smithsonian Fellow, and recipient of a Rauschenberg Foundation Artist-in-Residence and Creative Capital Grant. She has exhibited widely in venues in the United States and abroad, including the Albright Knox Art Gallery; Fondation EDF; the Nevada Museum of Art; Ballroom Marfa; Färgfabriken Norr; Kunstnernes Hus; and TATE Modern. Her work is featured in Art and Ecology Now (Thames & Hudson, 2014) and The Polaroid Book (Taschen eds. 2005 & 2008) and resides in many permanent collections, including those of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery; the Lannan Foundation; the Houston MFA; and the New Mexico MFA. She is currently an artist-in-residence and lead investigator on a project at NASA.

http://www.erikablumenfeld.com/