MAINSITE Contemporary Art welcomes a new exhibition from multi-disciplinary artist Liz Roth to the Norman gallery with a run beginning on Friday, May 13 and closing on Saturday, July 9.

The exhibition will be celebrated with an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, May 13 as a part of the monthly 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk, with a midway and closing reception set for 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 10 and Friday, July 8, respectively.

**Rushing Waters (2013), Oil on canvas, 30"x48"**

Understanding Place: Perspectives presents artist Liz Roth’s longtime exploration of landscape in many media, including sketches, watercolor, oil painting and prints. The exhibition is organized as a journey around the world beginning with America 101, an exploration of every state in America, and ending with Roth’s ongoing project to render the rich and varied landscapes of the 40th parallel north.

For Roth truly “Understanding Place” involves extensive research as well as sustained looking. The sketchbooks and process material included in the exhibition give a glimpse into both of these practices and the ways in which they contribute to her finished pieces. Perspectives not only includes landscapes seen from different angles and sightlines, but also, more subtly, from different historical and disciplinary contexts. She notes:

“Driving across country for America 101 on small roads, and stopping constantly to look at and consider which landscapes to represent forever changed how I view land,” Roth said in an artist statement. “I realized I had so much to learn about the many lenses through which I might comprehend a landscape: geomorphology, cultural geography, natural resources, histories of ownership, agriculture, immigration … the list of ways of understanding place was innumerable.”

Liz Roth is Professor of Drawing and Painting at Oklahoma State University. Her paintings, prints, installations, and drawings have been shown in over 100 exhibitions, including a dozen solo exhibitions. She has received numerous prestigious grants, among which was a Fulbright fellowship to teach in China, and many national and international residencies. Her work is in several public and private collections, notably the Walker Art Center (Minnesota), Museu del Joguet (Spain), and Hall of Awa Japanese Paper Museum (Japan).

The exhibition is curated by Jennifer Scanlan.