In the winter of 2006 and over the course of 2 years, Chattanooga photographer Mary Barnett captured the end of an age in American manufacturing while documenting the rapidly vanishing visual history of the former U.S. Pipe and Foundry plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, during its closing and demolition.
From this work Barnett created the documentary "And The Iron Did Swim," an installation of 45 large format digital prints shown at Tanner Hill Gallery in 2009. The exhibit was supported by a Create Here Make|Work Grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation.
The exhibit merged editorial and abstract views of the abandoned 90-acre industrial site, while leaving questions on the meaning of 'Made in America.'
In Spring 2015, Barnett will install an all new printed metal series from her foundry archive that will focus on the abstract rusted universes and sun-soaked watery landscapes she discovered while wandering through acres of twisted painted metal landscapes and battered ironworks debris fields . The ambitious installation aims to combine design, materiality and story in a unique interpretation of history and contemporary art.
The work will premiere at the Chattanooga History Center, a state-of-the-art social history museum designed by Ralph Appelbaum & Associates scheduled to open in 2015.
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