OPENING RECEPTION
APRIL 4 FROM 6 TO 8 PM

An exhibition of new photographs, paintings, sculptures, and video installation by artist Marek Ranis explores the power, patterns, and beauty of rock cracking—a foundational process shaping our planet and unexpectedly responding to climate change. The exhibition will be on view April 5-9 by appointment only. To schedule a viewing, contact Marek Ranis at mpranis@charlotte.edu.

The vast artistic work of Subcritical was created out of an intense three-year collaboration between Ranis and geoscientist Martha Cary (Missy) Eppes, both professors at UNC Charlotte, and was funded by the National Science Foundation and the UNC Charlotte College of Arts + Architecture.

A professor of Earth Sciences and a Fulbright Research Scholar, Eppes’s pioneering research has revealed the unexpected impacts of changing climates on rock fracture, an area of study that is quite literally fundamental to our world.

“There is no rock on Earth that does not have fractures,” Eppes has written. “Fractures impact every conceivable process shaping the Earth’s surface. They control how rivers cut into rock, how glaciers erode, how volcanoes erupt, and how landslides occur.”

A grant from the National Science Foundation allowed Ranis to embark on an expansive artistic field study with Eppes across the United States, Canary Islands, Faroe Islands, and Israel. His creative work – rooted in climate discourse since 2002—has often drawn from global scientific collaborations, and this exhibition marks a significant milestone in that journey. The result is a powerful visual exploration of climate science through art.

Learn more here. 

Subcritical is part of the 2025 Organizer Series at Hodges Taylor which is programmed from a selection of proposals received through an open call for projects.