In planning the exhibition Lost at Sea,Newport Art Museum curator Danielle Ogden, exhibition manager Jeff Foye, and artist Sean Landers surveyed all the ocean-related work he has created over the course of his career and realized there was a lot of it. Ogden says, “The guiding vision for this exhibition was to highlight how deeply rooted [Sean’s] practice is in the traditions of painting—while revealing the ways he refracts those influences through a distinctly contemporary lens. It’s exactly the kind of experience we want to curate for our visitors.”
Moby Dick, The Whale, 2013, oil on linen, 112 x 335 in.
At 112 by 335 inches (that’s 28-feet long), Landers’ oil painting Moby Dick, The Whale, from 2013, was the obvious choice to be the centerpiece of his solo exhibition. It also encapsulates the themes that course throughout the show: the connection between the past and the present and the murky waters between fiction and reality. The rest of the show was curated around it. The result is an installation-style exhibit that includes works from as early as 2011 to his lighthouses and whale skeletons from 2023.
In addition to Landers’ 10 paintings, the exhibition also includes a selection of roughly 20 illustrations by Winslow Homer, originally published in Harper’s Weekly during the 1860s. Landers, who counts Homer’s seascapes among his influences, selected the historic pieces from the museum’s permanent collection to highlight the sea as a timeless source of inspiration and rumination, as well as New England’s maritime legacy.
Lighthouse Keepers in Shadow, 2022, oil on linen, 36 x 42 in.
“The new thing in this show is the curation of these works from different times, which speaks to Newport the town and its formidable history and the lasting influence the ocean as a theme has had on my work over the entirety of my career,” says Landers. “So much so that we could combine works from different decades, and they fit seamlessly together. I love that aspect of it.”
Portland Lighthouse, US, 2023, oil on linen, 84 x 64 in.
The imagery also comes together to form a metaphorical narrative about the artist’s journey—a story of perseverance and survival. “These are qualities an artist must have to survive in the time in which they live but also for their art to survive after they are no longer here,” shares Landers. “These are also qualities all people must have to get through life, so I hope it’s universal. The harpoons in Moby Dick’s side are the efforts of whalers from the past trying to bring down the great whale, symbolizing my personal attempt to make lasting art but also symbolizing all people’s efforts to create a meaningful, fulfilling life.”
Sperm Whale Skeleton II, 2023, oil on linen, 70 x 92 in.
The lighthouses are more open to interpretation. Are they beacons of hope and safety, or do they represent an unreachable place or goal? The whale skeletons, on the other hand, are symbols of the reality that we must carry on despite the inevitable end that we all face.
For Landers, distilled down, Moby Dick, The Whale represents his life in art. “I try with every harpoon I throw, i.e., each artwork I make, to create lasting works,” he says. “I do this not out of the fear of death but more out of the desire to have lived a life that mattered.”
Landers is represented by Petzel Gallery in New York City. Contact the gallery to inquire about the availability of works in the exhibition and beyond. —
Sean Landers: Lost at Sea
Through December 29, 2025
Newport Art Museum 76 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840
(401) 848-8200, www.newportartmuseum.org
Powered by Froala Editor
