SEATTLE, WA.- The Seattle Art Museum presents Lynne Siefert: Ark (October 23, 2020–March 21, 2021), the solo exhibition of the winner of the 2019 Betty Bowen Award. The first filmmaker to win the award, Siefert creates experimental non-fiction films on both 16mm and digital film that address the climate crisis and environmental justice in seductive yet unsettling ways.

Lynne Siefert: Ark presents two of the artist’s films on a continuous loop. Ark (2016, single-channel, digital, 32 minutes) takes place on a cruise ship, highlighting a surreal world of desire, artifice, and consumption in our current late-capitalist moment. On an alternating loop, Generations (2019–20, three-channel, Super 16mm film to digital, 27 minutes) features 13 tableaux showing people living, working, and playing in the shadow of gigantic coal power plants, laying bare the tensions between industry, human life, and the natural world. The run time for both films is one hour, beginning at the top of the hour.

“The annual exhibition of the Betty Bowen Award winner is always a fantastic opportunity for SAM to showcase the work of exceptional artists living in the Northwest,” says Catharina Manchanda, Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art. “We are delighted to have Lynne’s extremely timely and thought-provoking films on view.”

The museum will present a virtual talk with the artist, on a date in January 2021 to be announced.

The downtown Seattle Art Museum is currently open at a limited capacity with timed tickets purchased online in advance required. Visit SAM Blog for more information and to plan your visit.

Siefert holds a BA in International Studies from the University of San Francisco. She has an MFA from Emerson College in Boston, focusing on experimental film and media art. Her work has been shown in film festivals nationally and internationally, such as the 2020 Berlinale, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, EXIS Experimental Video and Film Festival, and the San Diego Underground Film Festival. Her work has also been exhibited in galleries including Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn (online, 2020) and Glassbox Gallery in Seattle (2019).