Joan Linder: Operation Sunshine

July 9 - October 30, 2016 - This exhibition highlights Linder’s most recent body of work, which explores toxic waste sites in Buffalo, Tonawanda, and Niagara Falls, New York, and the documents related to such precarious properties. She approached her subject not only as an artist but also as a researcher. Linder’s initial focus was the Love Canal neighborhood along the Niagara River. During the 1940s, the Hooker Chemical Company dumped over 20,000 tons of toxic waste on this 36-square block locale. In 1978, the ill-health of its residents came to light, and subsequently families were forced out of their homes and the community was demolished. Following a Superfund cleanup, what remains visible is a wasteland of grass-covered mounds surrounded by a chain-link fence.