CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/12/2025

Rizzoli Bookstore presents Sandy Skoglund with René Paul Barilleaux for the launch of 'Enchanting Nature'

Wednesday, November 12, from 6—8 PM, Rizzoli Bookstore presents a conversation with Sandy Skoglund to celebrate the publication of her new book, Enchanting Nature, a playful and enthralling collection of the artist's signature unconventional dreamlike scenes and images. She will be in conversation with René Paul Barilleaux, followed by a signing.

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 PM.

Can't attend? Order your signed copy (please specify that you would like it signed in the comments box at checkout).

Skoglund's dream-like images of colorful animals against quotidian backgrounds evince the paradoxes between the natural environment and the manmade world.

Published by Damiani with McNay Art Museum and Paci Contemporary Gallery.

American photographer and installation artist Sandy Skoglund's (born 1946) work drowns viewers in the ultra-saturated consciousness of contemporary life. From neon orange goldfish swimming in a blue bedroom to toxic green cats stalking around a kitchen, the conflict between the manmade world and the natural environment becomes an ongoing struggle—an eternal clash of culture and nature. Thus, the appropriately titled exhibition Enchanting Nature, and its corresponding catalog, showcases works from Skoglund's entire career, emphasizing the ongoing themes in her art including ecology, the environment and interspecies kinship. It includes her most famous installations such as Revenge of the Goldfish and Radioactive Cats alongside the never-before-exhibited Fresh Hybrid (2008). Additionally, Skoglund's recent photography series, The Outtakes revisits her prior photoshoots to recover alternative shots that were originally rejected.

Sandy Skoglund was born in 1946 in Weymouth, Massachusetts, to a Scottish mother and a Swedish father.

From 1964 to 1968, Skoglund studied studio art and art history at Smith College, participating in a study abroad program in France. Studying art history at the Sorbonne ignited her interest in avant-garde cinema, especially Cahiers du Cinema and the French New Wave’s auteur theory.

After graduating with a BA in 1968, Skoglund earned money for graduate school teaching junior high art in Illinois. The following year, she went to the University of Iowa to study painting, art conservation, printmaking, filmmaking, and multimedia. She graduated in 1972 with an MA and an MFA degree in painting.

Since the 80s, Skoglund has developed her vision as a conceptual photographer and installation artist with extraordinary tableaux that provide viewers with unexpected visual sensations. Her striking use of elaborate sets, hand-sculpted creatures, and live models has spawned unique images rich in conceptual and physical complexity. With unusual materials, striking color palettes, and clashes between nature and artifice, Skoglund invites the viewer into a compelling world of psychological suspense, provoking questions and leaving lasting impressions.

Skoglund lived in New York City until 2003, when she relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey.

René Paul Barilleaux has worked as a curator for over 40 years, focusing especially on the work of artists outside the mainstream or at mid- and late career. With a background in studio practice, Barilleaux’s curatorial interests lie in incorporating innovative presentation techniques to engage audiences in challenging and unexpected ways. Early years at the Museum of Holography thrust him into the world of alternative and non-traditional institutions. Since then, his exhibitions and publications have won awards, including an AAMC Award of Excellence in 2020 for Transamerica/n: Gender, Identity, Appearance Today. Barilleaux’s curatorial approach is collaborative and team-oriented, allowing diverse voices to construct an open and welcoming narrative for both exhibitions and collections development. A native of Lafayette, Louisiana, Barilleaux shares his life with his husband, Tim Hedgepeth, and their dog, Lucy.

Rizzoli Bookstore
Sandy Skoglund: Enchanting Nature
Wednesday, November 12, from 6–8 PM
1133 Broadway
New York, NY 10010
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