In times like these, it’s often important to take a moment and just… breathe. And breathing is the theme of a thought-provoking art show now wrapping up its final days at UC Davis’ Manetti Shrem Museum.
“Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice” gathers more than a dozen artists who are investigating social and environmental injustice in the world. “The lungs of our planet — oceans, forests and the atmosphere — are under threat, invaded by carbon emissions, plastics and man-made pollutants,” write the exhibit’s organizers. “The act of breathing was rendered even more perilous by the COVID-19 pandemic and police brutality.”
Among the show’s participants – contemporary artists, but also activists and scientists who work in photography, painting and sculpture – is Clarissa Tossin, who presents tangible monuments to the hard-to-visualize effects of climate change. Tossin has made a silicone cast of a peach tree in her garden in L.A., which died due to excessive heat and chronic drought.
Brandon Ballengee, meanwhile, has created portraits of marine animals that’ve gone extinct due to human-made disasters, such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They’re executed in the fitting media of crude oil, contaminants and dispersant.
The exhibit runs concurrently with “Ojo” by artist Julio César Morales, whose work is informed by the immigrant experience and living near the Mexico-U.S. border.
Details: Show runs 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday until Nov. 29, 2025, at 254 Old Davis Road, Davis; free, manettishremmuseum.ucdavis.edu