Monument Valley

Navajo Nation, Arizona / Utah; later projected in an empty warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles A photographic research trip with Zach Cowie undertaken as preparation for a painting series Nelson had imagined for years. Sunrise, midday and sunset studies of the formations treated the landscape less as scenery than as a set of presences whose identities changed with light and distance. The photographs were subsequently presented as projections in a group exhibition with Tony Brown in an empty Downtown Los Angeles warehouse. The trip became the point of departure for the Rock Paintings and for a monumental 96 × 216 in (244 × 549 cm) Monument Valley painting later made in situ at Flora Chang. Collaborators / contributors: Zach Cowie, travel and research companion; Tony Brown, group exhibition collaborator.