Gallery Talk: Ilana Manolson: The Air We Share

Curator Sarah Tanguy and Artist Ilana Manolson, will discuss the exhibition "Ilana Manolson: The Air We Share", in a gallery talk scheduled for

Sunday, 2:00- 3:00pm

About the exhibition:

A Project Space exhibition
Ilana Manolson, Artist
Sarah Tanguy, Curator

The Air We Share invites viewers to look closely at the plants that thrive at the edges of human attention. Painter, printmaker, and naturalist Ilana Manolson celebrates and elevates species often dismissed as weeds, revealing their vitality, beauty, and essential roles within the ecosystems we share.

Manolson paints through deep observation. Swaths of color flow across luminous landscapes while delicate strokes trace the intricate veins of leaves. Her “energetic fields”—bursts of light and form—make visible the unseen forces connecting all living things. Informed by her training as a botanist, her work finds grace and purpose in what many overlook.

This exhibition challenges the hierarchies humans impose on nature. Weeds, often maligned as invaders, stabilize soil, retain water, and offer shelter, medicine, and renewal. By placing them at the center of her compositions, Manolson reclaims their dignity and reveals their quiet power.

As climate urgency intensifies, The Air We Share calls for renewed awareness of our interdependence with the natural world. Manolson’s paintings remind us that life not only persists but flourishes in the margins, and that every living thing contributes to the shared breath that sustains us all.

This event will be held in-person at the museum.

Please direct any questions about this event to the museum's main contact for this event, Patricia Poku-Speight at [email protected].

Image: Ilana Manolson, Vernal Pond, 2015. Acrylic on yupo, 28.75 x 24.5 inches.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center