Gregory Colbert

Canadian-born artist Gregory Colbert began his career in Paris making documentary films about social issues. Filmmaking led to his work as a fine arts photographer, and the first public exhibition of his work was held in 1992 at the Musée de l’Elysée in Switzerland.

For the next ten years, Colbert showed no films and exhibited none of his art. Instead, he travelled to such places as India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Dominica, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tonga, Namibia, Borneo and Antarctica to film and photograph wondrous interactions between human beings and animals.

In 2002, he launched the Ashes and Snow exhibition in Italy at the Venice Arsenale, a 125,000-square-foot shipyard owned by the Italian navy. Built in 1104, the Arsenale was originally used to construct and launch boats to sea via the Venetian canals. Ashes and Snow was the largest solo exhibition ever mounted in Italy. The interior architecture of the Arsenale provided an ideal setting for the exhibition, and served as the model for The Nomadic Museum, which debuted with the opening of Ashes and Snow in New York City in March 2005. The museum then travelled to Santa Monica in January 2006, Tokyo in March 2007, and then to Mexico City in April 2008.

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed The Nomadic Museum to house the Ashes and Snow exhibition, ensuring that these compelling meditations on man and animals can be seen by a worldwide audience. Made entirely of shipping containers and other recycled or reusable materials, the exposition will travel indefinitely to ports of call with no final destination.

The Ashes and Snow display includes more than 60 large-scale photographic artworks, a one-hour film, two 9-minute film haikus and a novel of letters. None of the images have been digitally collaged or superimposed. They record what the artist himself saw through the lens of his camera. While Colbert uses both still and movie cameras, the images are not stills from the film.

The title Ashes and Snow suggests beauty and renewal, and is referred to in the literary component of the exhibition—a fictional account of a man who, over the course of a yearlong journey, composes 365 letters to his wife. The source of the title is revealed in the 365th letter. Colbert's photographs and one-hour film loosely reference the traveller's encounters and experiences described in the letters.

Colbert, who calls animals "nature's living masterpieces," chose to film animals in their native habitats in an effort to be true to each animal's voice. The film can be viewed as a work of art as well as a poetic field study. The film was edited by two-time Oscar winner Pietro Scalia. It is narrated by Laurence Fishburne (English), and Ken Watanabe (Japanese). Musical collaborators include Michael Brook, David Darling, Heiner Goebbels, Lisa Gerrard, Lukas Foss, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Djivan Gasparyan.

The photographic artworks of Gregory Colbert explore the poetic sensibilities of animals in their natural habitat as they interact with human beings. He states, “In exploring the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals, I am working towards rediscovering the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony with animals. The images depict a world that is without beginning or end, here or there, past or present.” Proving profound patience and an unswerving commitment to the expressive and artistic nature of animals, his 21st-century bestiary includes more than 40 totemic species from around the world. Some species featured include Asian elephants, Sperm whales, Royal eagles, Manatees, Saltwater crocodiles, Samba deer, Ocelots and Kinkajous.

No longer shown as merely a member of the family of man, humans are seen as a member of the family of animals. The animal subjects of the photographs and films include both wild animals and those that have been habituated to human contact. “I hope to see the world through the eyes of a whale, an elephant, a manatee, a meerkat, a cheetah. Being amazed by nature in all its forms is the lifeblood of Ashes and Snow. I have tried to leave the windows and doors open so that others can enter and feel that same amazement that I felt during each work’s creation.” Says Colbert. These mixed media photographic works marry umber and sepia tones in a distinctive encaustic process on handmade Japanese paper. The artworks, each approximately five feet by eight feet, are mounted without explanatory text so as to encourage an open-ended interaction with the images.

More than 1.5 million people have attended the show since its debut in Venice, Italy. The project has been embraced by both the general public and a critical audience. Gregory Colbert received the 2005 Lucie Award for Curator of the Year for the Ashes and Snow installation at the Nomadic Museum in New York and the 2007 THEA Award for Outstanding Achievement in a Museum or Touring Attraction.

On display in Casa Panorámica we have prints of Colbert’s remarkable photographs, glimpses of the masterpiece that is Ashes and Snow.