"Bridge Construction-Morris, IL - 2003
oil on canvas" by Randy Dudley, whose "panoramic realist" view of the Gowanus Canal, reproduced in this month's "Art in America" was a striking view of a beloved landscape. I wish I could have seen the show.

"This landscape suggests, through its layering and overlapping of debris, structures, and accumulated rubble, a visual record of the past and present. This synthesis of histories is what gives the landscape its vitality. Gone are the stockyards, tanneries, steel mills, and gas works replaced by numerous smaller concerns, all of which leave behind their trace to the historic mix.

The industrial landscape, by virtue of its isolation, seems to resist change. This same isolation creates a menacing and alien landscape to some. But the inherent beauty of reflected light and local color combine with a stillness that permeates everything, creating a unique and inspired environment."