Untitled (Power plant), Huntington, Utah, 2017 Chromogenic print; Image Size 39 x 55 in.
(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- The Montclair Art Museum presents Victoria Sambunaris: Transformation of the American Landscape, an exhibition of photographs by acclaimed American artist Victoria Sambunaris, from June 26, 2026 to February 21, 2027. The exhibition brings together large-scale photographs and related materials from Sambunaris's ongoing exploration of the American landscape and its transformation through human intervention, industry, and infrastructure.
For more than 25 years, Sambunaris has traveled alone across the United States, often spending months on the road with a 5×7-inch field camera, documenting places where the natural and manmade converge. Her photographs capture rail lines cutting across deserts, mines carved into mountainsides, power plants rising from vast open terrain, and traces of human activity embedded within remote landscapes.
Timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States, Transformation of the American Landscape invites audiences to reflect on how the American landscape has functioned both as a symbol of national promise and as a site of extraction, expansion, and environmental consequence. Sambunaris's work balances extraordinary visual beauty with a probing examination of the ways land has been shaped and often strained by political, technological, and industrial ambitions.
Untitled (Coal Conveyor Belt), Near Kayenta, Apache Navajo counties, Arizona, 2017 Chromogenic print; Image Size 32.5 x 42 in.
"Victoria Sambunaris is one of the most compelling photographers working today on the subject of the American landscape. Her photographs are visually stunning, but they also challenge us to reconsider how we understand the land, our relationship to it, and the impact of human ambition upon it. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, this exhibition offers an important opportunity to reflect on how American history has been written onto the landscape itself." —Ira Wagner, former Executive Director of the Montclair Art Museum and curator of the exhibition
Sambunaris's work has been exhibited internationally and is included in the collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.
Victoria Sambunaris: Transformation of the American Landscape will be on view at the Montclair Art Museum from June 26, 2026, to February 21, 2027.
The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) champions American and Native American art—past and present. Through bold exhibitions, hands-on programs, and deep community ties, MAM sparks creativity, connection, and conversation. Guided by its core values of respect, collaboration, education, and inclusion, the Museum is a vibrant hub where art meets ideas, and everyone is invited.
VS 08-11 Untitled (Travertine) Yellowstone National Park, 2008