James Cohan Gallery is pleased to present The Fifth Season. This group exhibition explores the seasonal rhythms of natural systems, the human disruptions of these once-balanced cycles, and the increasing alarms of global climate change. 

The theme of the "four seasons" has inspired countless works of art throughout history. As a subject, the seasons are metaphors for life cycles and transitions. The calendar propels our existence on a regular emotional and physiological schedule. The rhythm of life is inextricably connected to the quartered year.

Ecological and technological changes have created a less defined cycle of life, one that is sped up by the velocity of communication and slowed down by unpredictable environmental behavior, calling into question our long-held notions of how time behaves. One is confronted on a daily basis by unprecedented connectivity and growing awareness of irregular natural patterns, and we as a species are struggling to understand this new reality. 

Whether addressing the conventional notion of the four seasons or reflecting on today's intense technological hybridity and climate change, the exhibition presents an opportunity to situate ourselves in this fifth season—a highly nuanced, unfamiliar place. 

Participating artists: Matthew Brandt, David Brooks, Charles Burchfield,
Martin John Callanan, Claude Louis Châtelet, Jacques de Lajoüe, Mark Dion,
Spencer Finch, Finger Pointing Worker, Futurefarmers, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe,
Natalie Jeremijenko, Beatriz Milhazes + BUF, Katie Paterson, Alexis Rockman,
Erin Shirreff, Kota Takeuchi, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Fred Tomaselli, and Erik Wysocan. 

*image (left)
Alexis Rockman
Ark, 2014.
oil and alkyd on wood. 44 x 56 inches (111,8 x 142,2 cm).
Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York