William Greiner

Issue 13

I grew up in New Orleans, which sits at an elevation below sea level. As a child, I often wondered if the Gulf of Mexico would one day swallow us. I would look out over the levees, half-expecting to see a wall of water rushing towards me. As we all know, that day did indeed come. New Orleans was submerged briefly, but long enough to change my city irrevocably, and send me seeking higher ground in Baton Rouge.

The probability of New Orleans suffering another disaster on that scale in my lifetime is low, so my mind wanders, and worries about concerns more global, yet just as likely to impact my life as Katrina did five years ago. Regardless of one’s political views, it is difficult to argue the present realities of climate change and its affect on the polar ice caps. If sea levels continue to rise at the current rate, the Earth’s land mass will shrink. Islands will disappear, and continental coastlines will move inland, creating new coastlines. As I consider this bleak scenario, I look out at the landscape around me and imagine Baton Rouge as the new Land’s End.

The New Orleans Museum of Art ( www.noma.org) will open two exhibitions by William Greiner, LAND’S END and FALLEN PARADISE (New Orleans 1995-2005) on April 10, 2010 and closing July 11, 2010.

William Greinier is a Baton Rouge, Louisiana based artist.
To view more of his work, please visit William's website.