G2 Gallery Opens From Snails to Whales, An Underwater Photography Exhibition 40 Years in the Making

On March 3, 2015, The G2 Gallery will premiere From Snails to Whales, a vast exhibit featuring images from Chris Huss and Mark Strickland that span four decades of underwater photographic expeditions. The March 7 opening reception will celebrate Snails, as well as the seven-year anniversary of G2.

From Snails to Whales will be the second show from Huss and Strickland at The G2 Gallery following their popular 2013 State of the Sharks exhibition. Snails will serve as an expansion of their initial idea in Sharks, which was to stir public awareness of underrepresented marine life; in Snails, that spectrum of marine life is massive. As with Sharks, the show was created to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the ocean environment and its inhabitants.

“As divers, we’ve seen ecosystems change and species appear and disappear,” says Huss. “We wanted to create an exhibit that would highlight the marine biodiversity that is so important to maintain.”

With more than 50% of the planet’s oxygen coming from oceanic plants, there is a great need to alert public awareness to conservation beyond saving the rainforests, which is what most people tend to focus on. While 12% of the earth’s land is legally protected, only 1% of the oceans have any protections. From Snails to Whales aims to change that.

Since the exhibit draws on nearly 40 years of photography, many of the images cannot be replicated today. Localized extinctions and changing patterns mean that certain species are not found in the places Huss and Strickland photographed them in years ago. The show tackles this difficult issue with hope and positivity.

“It’s easy to get mired in the doom and gloom of it all,” says Strickland. “But there’s reason to be optimistic, as real progress is happening with public awareness and actual protection for marine habitats. Just last year, the U.S. created the world’s largest marine reserve, protecting nearly 490,000 square miles in the central Pacific—an area roughly three times the size of California.”

The exhibit will be divided into geographical areas:  Coral Triangle, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, South Pacific and Temperate Eastern Pacific. Each area will be illustrated using a combination of a photo collage, several large prints and images on iPads. The iPads will display additional images to further illustrate the biodiversity for each area, as well as provide descriptions of the animals and information on the ecological makeup of the area.

“We want people to walk into this visual feast of images and then get hooked into the conservation aspect,” says Huss. “We want the viewer to feel as they’ve discovered something on their own.”

“As much as this exhibit may feel cumulative because of how many years went into it, the work itself is ongoing,” says Strickland. “There is no ‘our work here is done.’”

The opening reception for From Snails to Whales, along with Nature OC: Ludo and Barbara Leideritz, will be held on March 7 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. The reception will also celebrate the seventh anniversary of The G2 Gallery, which opened in March 2008 under the ownership and philosophy of Dan and Susan Gottlieb, as well as Director Jolene Hanson. Admission is $10 at the door and includes wine, hors d’oeuvres and complimentary valet in front of the gallery. All proceeds from admissions will be donated to WildAid. RSVP to rsvp@theg2gallery.com.

 Location:                              The G2 Gallery (www.theg2gallery.com)

                                                1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291-3742

                                                Tel. 310.452.2842, E-mail info@theg2gallery.com

Contact:

310.386.6803

dianeshadersmith@gmail.com

Bennett Rea

310.452.2842

bennett@theg2gallery.com