BASALT
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Lara Almarcegui

EXHIBITION   December 11 - January 28, 2022
OPENING   Saturday, December 11, 7PM
ONLINE ARTIST TALK   Thursday, January 13, 5PM*

Netherlands-based artist Lara Almarcegui explores the material aspects of land and urban space.  Her work draws attention to mineral extraction and mineral rights and the raw materials used in the construction of our cityscapes.  

Basalt is a massive pile of rock recently blasted from a quarry on the northwestern corner of the Snake River Plain. The basalt began as lava released 15 million years ago from what we now call the “Yellowstone Hotspot”. Placing 150 tons of the broken basalt in the gallery, Almarcegui offers the material a position in the dialogue regarding its fate.  

Almarcegui comes to Boise as a participant in Holding What Can't Be Held, a project that invites artists to contemplate the site of the Idaho National Laboratory and its radioactive legacy. 

For the past 20 years Almarcegui has maintained a steady artistic practice, exhibiting work in many of the world's most prestigious art venues. In 2013, Almarcegui represented Spain in the Spanish Pavilion of the 55th Venice Biennale; she participated in Messe Square, Art Basel in 2018; and exhibited at the Hong Kong museum M+ in 2019.

PHOTOS Guy Hand
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Lara Almarcegui's artist talk was hosted by  the Department of Art, Design, and Visual Studies at Boise State University. 

Basalt is made possible through the generous contributions of Mondriaan Funds (NL), Boise City Department of Arts and History, Premier Aggregates, The Feeling Body, and MING Studios, Contemporary Art Center and International Artist in Residency Program.