Thomas Hart Benton's Approaching Storm (in 20 Days of Smog)

Abeles’s ongoing Smog series uses atmospheric pollution as a medium to recreate scenes of American art and life. After leaving carefully covered plexiglas plates on the roof of her Los Angeles studio for 20 days, Abeles peels back her stencil to reveal an image captured in the smog that accumulated on its surface. This rendition of Thomas Hart Benton’s Approaching Storm gives a new dimension of threat to the looming clouds by rendering them in car exhaust and industrial emissions.