Exhibition Opening : "In Countless Multitudes / Works by Blake Lenoir"

- from John J. Audubon’s “The birds poured in in countless multitudes…The air was literally filled with pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse, the dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes of snow; and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull my senses to repose.”Birds of America

  Blake Lenoir’s wilderness drawings are both celebrations and laments. From the Amazon rainforest to the wetlands of our own Calumet region, the artist helps us lose ourselves in the vivid color and diversity of world ecosystems. He also reminds us of all that has already been lost. Looking over , a huge drawing depicting the highland jungles of Morocco, Lenoir picks out different species: “There’s a Northern Bald Ibis… Aleppo Pines… the Barbary Lion, only found in captivity now… the Wild Ox, extinct… Pistachio Trees...”Atlas Mountains

Creatures extinct and still surviving coexist in Lenoir’s…