CAF 8 - Jim Denevan

Jim Denevan

Jim Denevan is an American artist known for his temporary land art, which involves creating large-scale drawings using natural materials like sand, ice, and soil. Rather than placing sculptures within the landscape, Denevan uses the landscape itself as his medium, making his process a spiritual and exploratory journey. His latest work, "Self Similar," debuted in October 2023 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as part of a city-wide exhibition. Denevan has also been commissioned for projects across the US, Spain, Argentina, Australia, and beyond.

I DON’T REMEMBER YOU

With assistance of cows and the sun, I DON’T REMEMBER YOU is inscribed in the field, drawn first with a stick while walking, a fence defining the boundaries of the text. The parallelogram-shaped field is bound on four sides; trees, roadway, river, pasture. Thirty-three cows live in the neighboring pasture bound by a fence that bars their access to the parallelogram, which has been removed from its historical use as pasture. It’s now a cultural place for people. Artists. These cows are migrated into the words. Over several days, they slowly eat the grass with LOVE, before returning to their pasture each night. With the foraging complete the grass slowly returns to its state prior to the intervention. The artwork is complete when the text fades and disappears.