Nature on Notice: Contemporary Art and Ecology

More than many US states, California is visibly suffering from the effects of climate change: wildfires rip through the region with disturbing frequency and heatwaves are hitting Los Angelenos thick and fast. So LACMA seems a fitting venue for an exhibition of works made by some 20 artists based in Southern California and around the world in response to ecological threat (21 December–2 August 2025). Photographs, video pieces and installations address the urgency of climate change and explore how Indigenous communities have long stressed the importance of maintaining ecological equilibrium. The exhibition also highlights the role of photography in both capturing the beauty of nature and also mapping land to facilitate extractive practices. Among the artists included in the show are Klea McKenna, whose ‘photograms’, made without a camera, involve rubbing rings from a 192-year-old California fir tree on to photosensitive paper; and Yan Wang Preston, whose ‘Forest’ photographs document reforestation across China.

Find out more from LACMA’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary

Born in 1824 (2016) by Klea McKenna, from the series Automatic Earth. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo courtesy Museum Associates, LACMA; © the artist

Egongyan Park, Chongqing, China (2017), Yan Wang Preston. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Courtesy and © the artist

2:13 PM (2022), Lorena Cruz Santiago. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: Clare Gatto; © the artist