“The Lost City: Between Art and Science,” a new exhibition at the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina, presents work by artist/scientist and alum Dr. Anna Davidson (M.F.A., ‘16). “The Lost City” presents work by Davidson, research posters by USC students in the School of the Earth, Ocean, and Environment faculty, and rock specimens from hydrothermal vent systems. 

The exhibition title refers to The Lost City hydrothermal vent system located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at the bottom of the seafloor roughly between South Carolina and north Africa. This area is known as a spreading center, or an area where the Earth’s crustal plates move away from each other, allowing hot magma to rise from the Earth’s mantle, interact with ocean water, and form chimneys around the vents.

Davidson, an artist-at-sea on a research expedition to the Lost City, created art that draws our attention to images of the stunning chimney towers and single-celled life forms found at hydrothermal vent sites. Her work incorporates white and black chimney rock samples, as well as nodules containing metals that nations worldwide are increasingly interested in mining the seabed to support green technologies. 

“The Lost City: Between Art and Science” is on view from Feb. 1 - May 12, 2023.

Davidson will give a free public lecture On Mar. 1 at 5:30 pm (EST). Register for online access here.