Ryerson Gallery is proud to present Human / Nature, an exhibition of recent works by Toronto-based artists Mark Kasumovic and Amanda Arcuri. Curated by Sarah Munro, Human / Nature explores the landscape and its relationship to the way we interact with it.

Kasumovic's series, Ideal Landscapes, offers a critique of traditional landscape photography's overt aestheticization of the natural world. Embracing mankind's impulse to improve upon the inherent beauty of nature, his work suggests another strategy for refinement. It is through the electronic lighting of the landscape that Kasumovic repositions nature as a perfectly realized product ripe for human consumption. Arcuri's work, Present in Absence, also aims to embellish the landscape. Her time-elapsed invasions of public parks highlight humanized elements of nature via streaks of fire and strategically laid lights. However, in the speed of her performance, Arcuri's photographs all but eliminate the hand of the human who created them.

Mark Kasumovic is currently completing his MFA in documentary media at Ryerson University. His work has been show at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and Edward Day Gallery. See www.markkasumovic.com for more information. Amanda Arcuri has exhibited at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, Ryerson Gallery, Gallery 1313 and the Gladstone Hotel. She recently graduated from Ryerson University with a BFA in photography. See www.amandaarcuri.com for more information. Sarah Munro holds a BFA in photography from Ryerson University and is currently pursuing her MA in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management. Sarah acts as Publications Assistant for the Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art and operates as Book Reviews Editor for their publication, Prefix Photo magazine.