American culture, historical figures, and odd national monuments—Brian Borlaug and Josh K. Winkler show a mash-up of new images about political history never discussed in ninth-grade U.S. History. Their new show, “Fantastic Realities,” kicks off at XYandZ Gallery Friday night with an opening reception starting at 7 p.m. Through original photographs, history book pages, television stills, and stylized drawings, Borlaug juxtaposes the iconographic and the personal, the propagandistic and the personal. The walls and floors of the gallery serve as Borlaug’s printing surface as he forces viewers to examine the conflict between events and how they’ve been documented throughout history.
Winkler takes a hard look at humans’ connection to nature—or mankind’s growing disconnect to the world, for that matter—in his large woodcut prints. His work documents how our presence has shaped and altered the world’s surface. For example, a shelf holds the skulls of birds that sadly flew into windows; photographs show taxidermy deer heads Winkler placed around the city. In short, the show challenges the audience to rethink their views on history and culture.
Fantastic Realities: New work by Brian Borlaug and Josh K. Winkler
XYandZ Gallery, 3258 Minnehaha Ave. S., Mpls.
Friday, Aug. 5–Saturday, September 3
Opening reception, 7–10 p.m.; Gallery hours, Thurs.–Sun., 12–7 p.m
thexyandz.com
