World Views: Maps and Art

An original look at the intersection of map making and artistic creation.

While many modern artists have been fascinated by the formal richness, the conceptual foundations, and the social significance of maps, cartographers have long used the techniques of artists to create maps that express much more than how to get from one place to another. World Views is the companion volume to an exhibition at the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum that is the first to combine maps, contemporary art that uses map forms and strategies, and commissioned works of art based on the idea of map making.

Densely illustrated with full-color reproductions, World Views shows how maps are a vehicle for examining cultural issues ranging from personal identity to international politics. Maps from around the world and throughout history along with works by artists such as Jasper Johns and Nancy Graves are joined by art created especially for the exhibition.

Although maps are supposedly objective, they incorporate cultural values and political beliefs. Essays by Robert Silberman and eminent geographer Yi-Fu Tuan explore further the complex relationship between the changing world, map making, and art.

Robert Silberman, associate professor of art history at the University of Minnesota, is the curator for this exhibition in collaboration with Patricia McDonnell, curator at the Weisman Art Museum.