Try as we might, separating art from the real-worldly state of things is a difficult prospect. Art is not an escape route from the outside world, or not entirely. On a visit to the gratifyingly enjoyable exhibition Beyond the Wilderness: Ansel Adams in 1940s Los Angeles, at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, we expect to be bathed in the legendary photographer’s idyllic black-and-white vantage on nature, and, in this case, the urban landscape of Los Angeles.
But, near the entrance, we are stung by the present-tense relevance of an Adams quote: “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” The local topicality of that idea hits home where we live, with the Sable-rattling threat of the current White House regime’s “drill, baby, drill” mandate.
More direct comfort arrives through another Adams quote on the wall: “Sometimes, I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.”
