ENID BLECHMAN The Red Divers of the Everglades: The Battle Begins

The SCAD Museum of Art presents "The Red Divers of the Everglades: The Battle Begins," an exhibition by SCAD alumna Enid Blechman (M.F.A., painting, 2013). Using scratched drawings, brilliant color, and humor as tools to intrigue viewers, the artist highlights environmental issues in, but not limited to, the state of Florida. Blending science and imagination, Blechman’s work constructs a world that lies between fact and fiction. She creates her work under the guise of a fictional CEO, artist and top scientist of Adipose Industries, an 'anti-corporation' that seeks to use repurposed materials and respond to ecological emergencies.

Included in the exhibition is a series of narrative paintings depicting the exploits of an imagined team of deep-sea divers, formed by Adipose Industries to explore the Florida Everglades. An urgent call detours the divers farther north to Stuart, Florida, where they discover a formidable opponent, toxic blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria. A battle with the algae ensues. Through this narrative, Blechman calls attention to the very real problem of toxic blue-green algae and its devastating effects on human health, the fragile ecosystem of Florida’s waterways and wildlife, as well as the state’s economy.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website