The New Explorers: Making Meaning in the 21st Century American Landscape

The New Explorers examines encounters with the American landscape by twelve contemporary female artist-adventurers. An illustrated narrative with an introduction by author and critic Lucy R. Lippard, the book traces the role that artist-adventurers have played in shaping American identity throughout history. The author traveled across the country to talk with these women about their projects as part of her own quest to understand how artists make meaning in landscape. The conversations revealed emerging themes that override familiar notions of beauty and entropy and show how the topography of everydayness is ripe for cultural investigation by a new breed of artist-explorers. The book moves well beyond the boundaries of the art world to make unexpected connections between history, geography, and visual culture in the 21st century landscape.

Kris Timken, an artist who has exhibited in the United States and Europe, was the owner of the gallery 364 Hayes in San Francisco. In the 80s she headed west to attend Stanford University where she earned a degree in history. In 2011 Timken completed a dual MFA and MA degree in Social Practice and Visual and Critical studies from the California College of the Arts. While in graduate school, she began to research The New Explorers. After graduation, Timken traveled to New York to meet artist Marie Lorenz and participate in her circumnavigation of Long Island—a 200-mile odyssey. Timken is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in visual studies at University of California, Santa Cruz.