On Wednesday, August 30, at 6:30 pm, the Art Gallery of Guelph and Musagetes Foundation are pleased to welcome Matthew Moore – multimedia artist, fourth-generation farmer, and food activist, whose community-engaged practice addresses issues related to land, agriculture and sustainability. Moore will speak to his use of documentary tactics, large-scale earthworks, installation and architecture as efforts to deepen agricultural knowledge while increasing consciousness of our relationship to the land and food supply on an individual and systemic level.

As cities and their corresponding agricultural hinterland grow both ever larger and ever more disconnected, Moore’s projects such as Rotations: Moore Estates (above) and Digital Farm Collective, a global initiative documenting cultivated plant growth accompanied by interviews with their growers, insert the land back into public consciousness and recentre our conversations about sustainable practices.

In addition to thought-provoking discussion about the intersection of agriculture and art, attendees will enjoy samples of local organic produce provided courtesy of Guelph-based Ignatius Farm which is committed to Community Shared Agriculture – an alternative food access and distribution method linking customers directly to the farm.

Based in Phoenix, Moore’s work often involves a combination of social practice, large scale installation and environments meant to instil a state of wonderment and contemplation, encouraging new insight as well as social change. Recent exhibitions include solo projects and commissions for the Phoenix Art Museum, the Speed Museum, the Sundance Film Festival, the Walker Art Center, MassMoCA, the World Congress of Soil Science in Korea, and Nuit Blanche Toronto, and he has been featured in publications including Art Forum, Art in America, Art Lies, Metropolis, Dwell, and Architecture.