UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art
Las Vegas, Nevada
We believe everyone deserves access to art that challenges our understanding of the present and inspires us to create a future that makes space for us all.
MessageMikayla Whitmore: Between a Rock and a Cliff
- January 13, 2020 - February 08, 2020
- Exhibition
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- Artwork
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- Artists
Mikayla Whitmore
"Go Down Deep," 2018
Archival metallic print
Seligman, Arizona, USA, 2018
During a road trip assignment to document a roadside cafe on Route 66, Whitmore came across this hand-painted sign reading “Go down deep.” What did it mean? The mystery caught her attention amongst all the kitsch and forced Americana scattered throughout the small town.
Later she discovered the sign was advertising a cavern or some other attraction in the area, but she never found out where it was.
She thought about the wider cultural implications of the words. Bodies are buried underground, and English-language Bibles refer to sinners being cast down into hell. Going down deep also means at some point trying to come back up, diving into an unknown abyss in order to discover something that makes sense of ourselves and existence.
- Created: 2018