The Beauty of Trees Takes Center Stage in Exhibition at SAC

From childhood, everyone can remember a favorite tree in their backyard, neighborhood or local park providing a shady spot on a summer’s day to have a picnic, read a book or play with friends. What about finding the perfect ruby-red McIntosh apple and plucking it from the biggest tree at the apple orchard, or spotting the tallest tree to hang a tire swing from? On October 1, Southampton Arts Center opened “A Celebration of Trees,” an ecological multi-media art exhibition created to educate and expand thought about tress from all over the world.

For 300 million years, trees have helped stabilize and improve environmental conditions for life on Earth, and today are an essential solution to global warming. Raising awareness of the devastating consequences of deforestation and the threats faced to endangered ancient trees and forests, SAC’s new exhibition highlights the beauty and mystery of trees while inspiring viewers to think more critically about how to protect them. Curated by Laurie Dolphin with Daniela Kronemeyer and Coco Myers, the show features stories from around the world told through photography, painting, silkscreen, sculpture, film and poetry, and important messages from the world’s Indigenous peoples.

The exhibition includes work by more than 80 artists from over 20 countries around the world sharing their unique stories and perspective on the world of trees.

One of those featured is Freeman Vines, a self-taught artist, blues musician, and luthier, who crafts guitars out of found wood — weathered barns, mule troughs, old radio parts and, most notably, the wood of a former lynching tree, in a series he calls “Hanging Tree Guitars.” Through his artwork, Vines shares his American experience as a Black man born in Fountain, North Carolina, during the Jim Crow era and coming of age during the Civil Rights movement. Vines was about 8 years old when his neighbor, an older gentleman named Oscar, invited him inside his log cabin to play the guitar one day.

“He said, ‘I’m going to learn you how to play a tune,’” Vines recalled over the phone from his home in North Carolina. The artist, who turned 80 years old on September 15, said it was a C.F. Martin guitar, and the first song he ever learned was “Wildwood Flower.”

“I was searching for a certain sound,” Vines recalled when asked why he started making his own guitars. Vines said that all his guitars — with some being shaped and carved as faces, skulls, trees and animals — are “mystical.” “You have to be spiritual to see exactly what is happening with these instruments. These trees, these pieces of wood have some character. They have meaning.”

Before hanging up the phone, Vines mentioned he does not move around too well anymore, but is still making guitars after 51 years.

Beth Moon, who travels the world photographing some of the most rare and colossal trees on Earth, is renowned for her depictions of the African Baobab — which can live more than 2,000 years.

Moon’s tree project has taken her all over the world — Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, the United States. The oldest trees Moon has photographed are up to 4,000 years old. She said these trees contain superior genes that have enabled them to survive through the ages and become resistant to disease and other uncertainties, adding that their genetic heritage is invaluable for future research and reforestation.

A New Orleans native, Frank Relle is raising awareness about the bayou’s ancient cypress trees, now endangered by the increasing onslaught of the oil industry. Relle is best known for his long-exposure photographs which he often takes after nightfall in the bayou, swimming in the water with his camera to get the closest shot while sneaking around alligators.

“It’s galvanizing people around an idea,” Relle said of “A Celebration of Trees.” He said that this exhibition hopefully leads to the growth of more trees, by inspiring people to get involved and shedding light on deforestation, wildfires and other threats to trees.

World-renowned photojournalist Sebastião Salgado’s black and white photographs displayed at SAC highlight the largest tropical forest on Earth— the Amazon. For six years, Salgado traveled the Amazon and photographed the forest, the rivers, the mountains and the people who live there. Speaking of the indigenous tribes of the Brazilian Amazon region, Salgado said, “It is a celebration of the survival of their cultures, customs and languages. It is also a tribute to their role as the guardians of the beauty, natural resources and biodiversity of the planet’s largest rainforest in the face of unrelenting assault by the outside world.”

Through his work of displaying the Amazon landscapes and portraits of the region’s Indigenous tribes, Salgado hopes to inspire people to save the forest from deforestation.

Also on view in the SAC show are Andy Warhol’s little known and rarely exhibited black and white silver gelatin photographs shot on a Minox camera of trees and the natural landscapes taken toward the end of his life. Locally, Warhol owned a 30-acre beachfront property in Montauk — an estate he coined Eothen, meaning “from the east” — a portion of which is now The Andy Warhol Preserve, a 15.1-acre parcel maintained by The Nature Conservancy.

Complementing the exhibition will be a series of programs including virtual and in-person talks, artist tours, workshops, films and educational events in collaboration with environmental organizations from across the East End. A series of panel discussions will highlight myths and symbols of the tree world, scientific facts, stories related to their history on Long Island from the Indigenous perspective and how the destruction of forests contributes to climate change.

“Ever since childhood, I have had a deep love and spiritual connection to the trees around me,” Dolphin, a curator for the SAC show and exhibition artist, said. “Now, as an adult and artist, I have come to realize that the universal importance of the tree world is fundamental to the survival of mankind. Simply put, we need trees and trees need us — we are forever interconnected. I know that this exhibition will transform our relationship, understanding and appreciation of trees.”

In addition, “A Celebration of Trees” is partnering with the nonprofit Archangel Ancient Tree Archive (ancienttreearchive.org), whose mission is to create living libraries of old-growth trees for the purpose of functional reforestation. The organization focuses on propagation, reforestation, archives and education.

“The East End artists participating in this exhibition have a longtime connection to both the local arts community and to the environment,” Myers, another exhibition curator, said. “Whether the work is representational or abstracted, it is inspired by nature: the light, the sea, the fields and the trees of eastern Long Island.”

The SAC is partnering with nonprofits all over the East End to find ways for people to get involved with helping the cause of saving trees. From documentary films and talks from tree experts from around the world, to hands on workshops for kids and Shinnecock Nation tree tours, all these events can be found at the SAC’s website calendar.

“Now more than ever, our connection to the natural world must continue to thrive,” said Kronemeyer, who will also serve as SAC’s programming curator for the exhibition. “The devastation we have seen caused by over-logging, development, and wildfires has impacted the survival of our forests and all beings who call it home. This exhibition will inspire the audience to think more deeply about our sacred connection to trees and serve as a reminder that we each have the power to make a difference when it comes to the health of the environment.”

“A Celebration of Trees,” will be on view through Sunday, December 18, at Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. The galleries are open Friday through Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. Gallery admission is free. For details on programming offered in conjunction with the exhibition, visit southamptonartscenter.org or call 631-283-0967.