Al río / To the River

For the last six years, Zoe Leonard has been making photographs along the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo, particularly the many miles where the river is used to demarcate the border between the US and Mexico. The work is informed by a deep consideration of the river as a natural entity, and the human constructions engineered to control the movement of water, people, and commerce. The result of this durational engagement is a large-scale work, the first part of which is reproduced here: a series of close-ups of the river surface that expose and amplify the shifting tensions in the water's surface.

Al río / To the River was exhibited at MUDAM, Luxembourg (2022) and is traveling to the Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris (October 2022), Excerpts from Al río / To the River is on view Hauser & Wirth in New York (Sept. 8–Oct. 29)

Caption for all works: Zoe Leonard, Al río / To the River (detail), 2016–2022. Approximately 500 gelatin silver prints and 50 chromogenic color prints. Dimensions variable Courtesy the Artist, Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne and Hauser & Wirth, New York.