First There is a Mountain, 2014 (Bleu Acier Gallery, Tampa, FL)
This exhibition explores the work of artist Gregg Perkins, who uses the story and photographs of Swiss aviator Walter Mittelholzer as a lens to examine technology, landscape, and adventure. Mittelholzer, born in 1894, became a pioneering aviator and photographer who helped establish Swissair and popularize air travel through his dramatic aerial photographs. In 1934, at the height of his fame, he flew from Zürich through Eastern Europe to Palestine and into Abyssinia (Ethiopia), where Emperor Haile Selassie received him. Perkins appropriates Mittelholzer's iconic images, particularly of Mont Blanc, to create works that layer historical perspective with contemporary digital and analog technologies.
The exhibition reveals how different eras of technology have shaped our understanding of geographical spaces—from pre-photographic subjective maps to Mittelholzer's aerial photography to today's GPS and satellite imaging. Through techniques ranging from traditional woodcuts and photogravure to digital video created with NASA mapping programs, Perkins examines the evolution of how we document and experience the natural world. The works also reflect on the risks and romance of early aviation, particularly poignant given that Mittelholzer died in 1937 in a mountaineering accident in Austria. Perkins's approach offers a "more modest perspective" than Mittelholzer's heroic view of conquering "space and time," instead using these historical narratives to create contemporary dialogues about our ongoing relationship with landscape and technology.
Exhibition Catalog, essay by Jane Simon
Mont Blanc Double Negative, 2013, Photogravure and etching printed on Somerset Satin
On the Artist's Approach:
"Perkins takes a more modest perspective, and several of his works in the exhibition use Mittelholzer's life and images as points of departure to discuss technology, topography, landscape, and the construction of narrative."
Untitled: Wireframe woodcut prints based on reconstructed ASTER GDEM data
Mont Blanc, 360 rotation High Definition 3D animation culled from ASTER GDEM data, 10 minute loop
On Historical Context:
"Man is [the] unchallenged victor over space and time." - Mittelholzer's heroic perspective, contrasted with Perkins's more nuanced view
Summit, cast bronze on polished copper
From left to right: "Walter Mittelholzer's route to Ethiopia" (digital print and ink) Double Mountain, (photogravure) and Haile Selassie 1934 (digital print)
On Contemporary Relevance:
"Perkins's lyrical and abstracted renditions of snow are a poignant reminder of our ongoing desire to experience the natural world."
From left to right: "Wireframe I, Wireframe II, Wireframe III, and Walter Mittelholzer's route to Ethiopia
From left to right: Hailie Selassie and Mont Blanc I & Mont Blanc II