“Since relocating to the California desert in 2013, artist MPA (b. 1980; Redding, CA) has been immersed in a multi-year inquiry into the future colonization of Mars, often known as the red planet. In RED IN VIEW the artist looks at Mars as a place for settlement and a resource for our own endangered planet, as well as a site of possible human origin. By reflecting on histories of colonization, RED IN VIEW raises questions of militarism and patriarchy, prompting us to examine our own, often subconscious, colonizing behaviors. The exhibition begins in the lobby gallery and extends to the theater in February for a culminating performance during which MPA and artists Malin Arnell and Amapola Prada perform Orbit, creating an enclosed, self-sustaining habitat, modeled after an environment where the first settlers on Mars would likely reside.” — Whitney Museum of American Art

“Looking at Mars, this imagined space, reflects most humans back to Earth.” — MPA

MPA, 3 to 1, 2016. Digital collage. Courtesy of the artist

MPA, Mars, 2014-2015. Pigmented inkjet print mounted on mat board and painted wood, 48 x 48 x 4.75 in. (121.92 x 121.92 x 12.07 cm). Courtesy of the artist; commissioned by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

MPA, Mars with Overhead, 2016. Digital collage. Courtesy of the artist

MPA (b. 1980), Entrance, 2014-2016 (left). Pigmented inkjet print mounted on mat board and painted wood, 7 x 7 in. (17.8 x 17.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Higher Pictures. Surrender, 2014-2016 (right). Pigmented inkjet print mounted on mat board and painted wood, 7 x 7 in. (17.8 x 17.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Higher Pictures

RED IN VIEW is organized by Jay Sanders, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Curator of Performance, and Greta Hartenstein, Senior Curatorial Assistant, with Allie Tepper, Curatorial Project Assistant.

Images courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art.