After ending one other 12 months of record-breaking local weather statistics, we stand on the precipice of 2025, which has already revealed its personal devastating challenges. Because the window for significant change continues to slim in the course of the subsequent a number of years, we’re left to marvel what the world may appear like if we keep on this path. Via the lens of hyper-consumerism, San Francisco-based artist Michael Kerbow (beforehand) envisions the long run in his wry and imaginative panorama work.
Swarming decayed gasoline station roofs, perching atop deserted autos in forests, and sauntering previous crumbling highways and quick meals joints, the dinosaurs in Kerbow’s work govern a world overrun by the results of late-stage capitalism. Hints of local weather devastation reveal themselves by means of small particulars within the background, akin to volcano eruptions, dense, hazy skies, and swimming pools of floodwater.
Kerbow scatters acquainted signage and commercials from recognizable chains inside his scenes to introduce humor and make his work extra approachable. Nonetheless, the artist emphasizes the gravity of the difficulty at hand:
We wish to consider the whole lot we at present have will all the time be there for us, however I believe it may simply as simply disintegrate and slip away. I attempt to keep optimistic concerning the future, however the fact is I’m troubled by the place I see issues seem like headed, particularly with the well being of our ecosystem. Every passing 12 months appears to convey extra alarming statistics, and this snug place we name house appears to develop extra precarious. It’s sobering to contemplate my paintings as foreshadowing a future actuality.
As Kerbow continues to make new work, you’ll be able to observe alongside on Instagram and see his web site for extra.
