90° South — Chris Willcox

South Pole (Grave), 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60” — *South Pole (Grave),* 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60”

Southern Swell, 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60” — *Southern Swell,* 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60”

800 Miles, 16 Days, 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60” — *800 Miles, 16 Days,* 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60”

90° South, Installed, 2012, Minneapolis Institute of Arts — *90° South*, Installed, 2012, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

The Last March, 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60” — *The Last March,* 2012, acrylic on paper, 40” x 60”

This series 90° South began with a simple photograph. A photograph of a snow-covered “Scott tent” standing alone in the desolate Antarctic landscape. The photo, taken in 1912, launched my imagination into wondering about the lives of Antarctic explorers and what they endured for the sake of glory, fame and scientific discovery. Robert Falcon Scott, a British explorer who died trying to reach the South Pole in 1912, wrote in his journal about Antarctica: “Great God this is an awful place.” I wanted to investigate what he could have meant by that phrase and depict a landscape that rejects notions of awe and the sublime in favor of a grittier reality.