A preeminent figure in conceptual art, Charles Gaines is widely known for converting images and text-based documents into numerical structures, musical notations, and other sign systems through rigorous translation mechanisms.

Organized by Phoenix Art Museum, Charles Gaines: Numbers and Trees (Arizona Series) debuts the complete series of the most recent body of work by renowned conceptual artist Charles Gaines, Numbers and Trees: Arizona Trees 1, 2023. The image of the tree has been central to Gaines’ practice since the 1970s, and since then, he has examined a variety of species, including California walnuts and palms to southern pecans. This new series features eight large-scale triptychs depicting cottonwoods that were photographed along the San Pedro River outside Sierra Vista, AZ. The trees were then plotted with specific colors and a numbered grid reflecting the full form before sequentially overlaying the trees.

The exhibition also features monumental work Greenhouse (2003–2023), a massive 12 x 16-foot sculptural enclosure that contains three stainless steel trees at the center. These trees become enveloped with smoke as adjacent monitors track historical and real-time temperature patterns of global warming. The work represents a poignant meditation on the global climate crisis that has persisted from the 18th century to the present.

Charles Gaines: Numbers and Trees (Arizona Series) is presented in conjunction with Charles Gaines: 1992-2023 in the Museum’s Steele Gallery. These exhibitions simultaneously demonstrate Gaines’ enduring aesthetic commitment to demystifying systems of representation as well as his ongoing and indispensable contributions to the field of conceptual art.

Location: Cummings Great Hall

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