Elements, the first solo museum exhibition from Los Angeles-based artist, Kevin Cooley, whose work looks closely at how perspective can influence the perception of our surroundings. Cooley, who has gained national acclaim for his photography and video work, creates pieces that investigate the intersection between the natural environment and our relationship with it. Minimalist and contemplative in nature, the two videos selected for Elements (Tow and Skyward ) envelop the viewer in suspended narratives, provoking nostalgia and wonder. Each piece of information given by the artist adds a new layer to the viewer’s experience, building anticipation and tension.

Kevin Cooley’s 2-channel video Tow was created aboard a schooner in a glacial fjord during the artist’s 2011 participation in The Arctic Circle Expeditionary Residency Program. The left channel of this projection shows the expanse of Arctic waters, while the right channel gives viewers a closer view of a bobbing and crackling ice cap in tow behind the moving boat. The combination of the Arctic sea’s soothing sounds and natural colors is sharply contrasted by the bright pink rope used to lasso the fragment. This intentional visual interruption is intensified by the slow reveal of the landscape.

Created from hundreds of hours of footage collected during weeks of travel throughout southern California, Skyward turns the experience of this specific landscape into a suggestive portrait of unique elements that define the West Coast. Suggesting the experience of what it’s like to be a reclining passenger in a vehicle, we are reminded of the simple freedom to look out, letting our eyes explore and our mind wander. Cooley’s use of a minimal sky-scape, leaves room to create our own individual narrative, while his deliberate inclusion of ambient sound provides a point of reference for the direction of the storyline. ( for more installation views, visit www.kevincooley.net )