Joseph Gregory Rossano: Vanity

Joseph Gregory Rossano: VanityIn 2013, numerous animal species were declared extinct. Mans destruction of natural habitat, introduction of invasive species, and over harvest pushed them into memory. Joseph Gregory Rossano: Vanity is an installation, an expandable exhibition, and a detailed publication created by Rossano and a team of scholars and artists. Eleven extinct species are represented in various ways: sculpturally in specimen jars; drawings in the Naturalists tradition;

In 2013, numerous animal species were declared extinct. ManÕs destruction of natural habitat, introduction of invasive species, and over harvest pushed them into memory. Joseph Gregory Rossano: Vanity is an installation, an expandable exhibition, and a detailed publication created by Rossano and a team of scholars and artists.

Eleven extinct species are represented in various ways: sculpturally in specimen jars; drawings in the NaturalistÕs tradition; historically in scientific descriptions and a scholarly catalog; and obscured by manÕs DNA sequences. It is as if we could reconstruct each species with all the information provided, but Rossano complicates this act of mental remediationÑhis clear glass sculptures submerged in water are almost imperceptible, and we are only given a clouded glimpse of the portraits of these species. What we can best see is ourselves reflected in the mirrored glass sculpture below the cabinets reminding us that this is our vanity, literally and figuratively.