Cypress Swamp, Alligator Bayou, Prairieville, Louisiana
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Object Details
Artist/Maker
Richard Misrach, American, born 1949
Date
1998, printed 2012
Medium
Pigmented inkjet print
Dimensions
Please contact the Museum for more information
Credit
Commissioned with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust, Lucinda W. Bunnen, and High Museum of Art Enhancement Fund
Accession #
2012.8
Image Copyright
(c) Richard Misrach 1998. Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, Pace-MacGill Gallery and Marc Selwyn Fine Arts
Description
“The twentieth century brought massive clearcutting of cypress forests by lumber companies. In 1993, 1,500 acres of land and water rights were purchased to preserve the remaining wilderness and create an eco-tourism business and educational center. Called Alligator Bayou, the area boasts two hundred and fifty species of birds, free-roaming alligators, and rare, giant old-growth cypress trees. Subsequent sewage and human waste pollution from a nearby prison, followed by the timber industry’s attempt to harvest the remaining cypress trees, and, most recently, disputes with neighbors over water rights and water usage forced the wilderness area to close down in 2010.” —Richard Misrach