Gallery 169 Hosts Kelly Sena’s Environmental Photography at May 31 Opening

Gallery 169 presents Kelly Sena’s For the Wild, a collaborative photographic project with seven imprisoned environmental activists, which will open May 31 with a reception from 5-8 p.m.

The event will be part of the Back to the Canyon 2 celebration, which will include a D.J., food, and the annual meeting of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association. See more information here.

In 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation decreed the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front as the preeminent domestic terrorist threat in the US, according to the gallery press release. Prior to 9/11, the US government had no credible evidence to seek indictments for unresolved environmentally motivated crimes of eco-sabotage, mostly arson, across the American West from 1996-2001. During these actions, nobody was ever harmed, a signature of ELF & ALF. The activists responsible eluded federal agents for years. Following the aftermath of 9/11, the USA Patriot Act law was passed, dramatically expanding the reach of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Hence, the FBI’s creation of ‘Operation Backfire’ or the ’Green Scare’ which was conceived by the activists community. 

In 2006, Sena wrote to the incarcerated activists and asked, “Where are places you travel to inside your minds eye, the sacred places that you visualize, that help keep you sane?” She offered to be their eyes, “I’ll go there to make a picture for you.” This was the beginning of a long collaborative project that took her to the Pacific Northwest, Arizona desert, South Dakota Badlands, and Atlantic Ocean. 

“As a photographer, I sometimes secretly yearn to feel liberated from everything I know about the history of art and photography. I want to be reckless and make beautiful photographs that celebrate nature. Instead, I work toward resuscitating a clichéd genre — nature photography — while acknowledging that nature and politics will always be inextricably bound together.” —Kelly Sena

For more information on the artist, click here.

For the Wild will be showing at Gallery 169 (169 W. Channel Rd.) through the end of the summer with complimentary valet parking available for the May 31 opening.