Noah’s Out-of-Order Ark-ade and Reliquary

Maria Lux

June 1 — 30, 2024

Opening Reception

Saturday, June 1, 5-8 pm

Open Hours

Sat-Sun 12-5 pm
drop in or by appointment 

Email info@carnationcontemporary.com
to schedule a visit

Exhibition Statement

Maria Lux presents Noah’s Out-of-Order Ark-ade and Reliquary: a defunct arcade repurposed as a shrine for lost and revived animals. Part holy site, part roadside attraction, visitors can pay their respects, or indulge their morbid curiosity, with real(!) replicas of what remains of the saintly animal martyrs of the Anthropocene. Raised with an appreciation of Catholic visual culture, Lux continues her exploration of the religious narratives surrounding species loss, de-extinction science, and cryogenic conservation, offering strange, irreverent, and darkly humorous ways of coping with the absurdity of both the problem of extinction, and its possible solutions.

Maria Lux (b. 1984) is a research-driven artist who makes installation-based works centering on the way animals are used to generate human knowledge and understanding. Originally from the Midwest, she earned her BFA from Iowa State University and her MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Lux is an Associate Professor of Art at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.