California (Bay Area, Northern) New World Atlas at the Robert Koch Gallery w/Matt Black

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Robert Koch Gallery is pleased to present New World Atlas: California & Nevada, the third solo exhibition at the gallery by American photographer Matt Black. Known for his visceral approach to documentary photography, Black turns his focus to the evolving climate of the American West, using thermal and infrared imaging to examine the effects of extreme weather events and the vulnerabilities of a rapidly shifting landscape. New World Atlas is organized in a series of 17 chapters, one for each state lying west of the 100th meridian. This exhibition presents California & Nevada, the first two chapters of this larger body of work. In this series, Black departs from conventional photographic representation and incorporates technologies that extend human perception: thermal imaging makes the invisible visible, allowing viewers to witness heat as a signifier of change, from drought and fire to evaporation. Infrared photography distinguishes the living from the inert, exposing a shifting terrain beneath what once seemed immutable. Based in California’s Central Valley, Black draws on his own experience with the region’s environmental volatility. He writes: “Giga-fires, mega-droughts, and thousand-year floods are reshaping the American West. From my home, I have seen massive Sierra wildfires fill the sky with smoke, and over 500,000 acres of farmland fall fallow for lack of water.” By working across the sub-humid and arid zones of the American West, areas particularly susceptible to shifts in temperature and moisture, New World Atlas offers an urgent and deeply felt chronicle of ecological transformation. Rather than documenting catastrophe alone, Black’s images invite viewers to consider new ways of seeing and understanding a landscape increasingly defined by extremes.

New World Atlas Opening Reception: 5:30 - 7:30 PM, Thursday, May 1, 2025 Robert Koch Gallery, 49 Geary Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108​