Zoe Leonard

Zoe Leonard:


Zoe Leonard

Work from You see I am here afterall.

“The cards Leonard has amassed range in date from the early 1900s, when postcards were first allowed by the U.S. Postal Service, to the post-War era, when they had become a ubiquitous part of the American travel experience. Along with other reproductive media, postcards contributed significantly to the transformation of natural sites into tourist destinations. You see I am here after all offers a filter for exploring the ways in which cultural constructions have mapped, shaped, and framed the geography and topography of North America over time. If taken singly, each card may attest to a unique encounter with a particular location at a specific historical moment (as evidenced in the message inscribed on one of them: “You see I am here after all”). En masse, they reflect decades of changing technologies during which the motif of the Falls, shot from a few standard vantage points, was revisioned: hand-colored, over-painted, cropped, or otherwise manipulated in accordance with changing notions of truth and taste. Organized by viewpoint and installed in grids, the ensemble unfolds like a Chinese scroll with one renowned vista succeeded by another.” – Dia Art foundation via pietmondriaan