Agroccult

MSP Terminal 1, Gallery E8
July 2021 - July 2022

With over 1,000 pictures (and counting) in the Agroccult series, Andy Messerschmidt has a lot to say, but the subject of each of these mixed-media images is the landscape.

Through landscape painting, Andy tells hundreds of stories both historical and invented. He regales us with myths and legends, tells jokes, and casts criticism. Agroccult is Messerschmidt’s compendium of feelings about the earth and the way that humans change it. The pictures are often sardonic, and at times, they turn abruptly toward a sense of reverence, haunting beauty, and a profound sense of calm. Many elicit contradictory feelings. Our desire to view a traditional landscape is thwarted by peculiarities. Painted orbs, auras, tracers, and luminosities interrupt our sense of place.

The Agroccult series began in 2000, and the sheer size of the project speaks to the scale of change the American landscape has endured.