About 2°C
2°C (two degrees Celsius) is an exhibit that uses powerful metaphor, provocative imagery and dark humor through the language of paint to confront humanity's complex relationship with our fragile planet.
Running July 31 through August 10, 2025, at Hamilton Studio in Minneapolis, the exhibit consists of oil paintings, on canvas and panel, by artists Mark Granlund and Drevis Hager. Exploring the landscapes of the Midwest (and the mind) these two painters provide a unique vision of the future. 2°C invites viewers to contemplate our pivotal ecological moment through works that are at once beautiful, unsettling and a little bit quirky.
A free opening reception will be held Thursday, July 31, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a short artist's talk at 7 p.m. In addition, Freshwater will co-host an intimate music and poetry performance on Thursday, August 7, featuring Prudence Johnson, Dean Magraw and Kyle Tran Mhyre. Limited seats are available for purchase (scroll down to reserve your spot). Proceeds from art sales, donations and the August 7 event go to support Freshwater's work for water.
Meet the artists
Mark Granlund explores the personal experience of natural landscapes, human activity and contemporary culture. His work utilizes traditional genres of landscape and still life. In his landscapes, Granlund shares the rhythms, layers and patterns that he senses particular to the site, capturing the bodily experience of place. In his still lifes, Granlund is taking traditional still life objects/motifs and pairing, punning and counterpointing them with non-traditional still life objects and situations while commenting on our American culture, which substitutes and imitates rather than wading deeper into personal experience.
Granlund earned a BA from Bethel University in Saint Paul, MN and an MFA degree from City University of New York at Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York. He has also been a public art administrator for the last 30 years, first for the Saint Paul Department of Parks and Recreation and currently with Metro Transit in the Twin Cities. Grounded in respect for nature, Granlund prioritizes working with eco-friendly materials: eco-sensitive paints and finishing products, organic cotton or linen, and sustainable lumber for his stretchers and frames.
Drevis Hager is a painter based in Minneapolis whose work captures the beauty of our natural environments. Working both in studio and en plein air, he incorporates varying perspectives to his work. Each composition acts as a portal to those moments when we connect with something greater – moments that compel us to pause. While rooted in traditional landscape painting, he demonstrates versatility through his exploration of abstract and abstract landscape compositions, moving fluidly between representational and non-representational genres.
In 2017, Hager began a line of paintings focused on climate change, inspired by James Blalock's Extreme Ice Survey – a project documenting the alarming rate of glacial retreat through time-lapse photography. This series is Hager's artistic response to the greatest threat of our lifetime, simultaneously melding beauty with alarm.
Hager's paintings have been displayed at several Minnesota galleries, including Everett and Charlie Gallery in Minneapolis, Yellow Bird Gallery and Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, Yellowbird Fine Arts and Johnson Heritage Center in Grand Marais, and Doug Flanders and Associates in Minneapolis. His work has also been featured in two Made Here MN exhibits at the IDS Center in Minneapolis. Hager and Granlund have collaborated on one other project, “The Painters’ Game,” exhibited at Studio 333 in St. Paul.
August 7 performance lineup
Join us for an intimate music and poetry performance on Thursday, August 7, at Hamilton Studio (3112 West 28th St., Minneapolis, MN 55416). Seats are limited, so please reserve your spot using the form below. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the performance beginning at 7 p.m. Event proceeds help to support Freshwater's work in water research, policy and education.
Prudence Johnson
Prudence Johnson's silky voice has taken her from the Midwest to the Middle East, honky-tonks to Carnegie Hall, theater stages to the silver screen — appearing in Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It and in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. But be it concert hall or tiny jazz club, Prudence is the perfect complement. As one music critic put it, "[There's] not a genre she hasn't interpreted with her ducky, sensual alto voice and terminally good taste."
Dean Magraw
"Dean Magraw’s music transcends, transports and lifts the soul to a higher level as he weaves, cajoles and entices every note from his instrument. Just as important are the silences with which he knits the music…these can only come with being at one with one’s art." – Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (Altan)
Kyle Tran Myhre
Kyle Tran Myhre (aka Guante) is a poet and activist whose work explores the relationships between narrative, power, and resistance. He’s performed at the United Nations, been featured on a Grammy-winning album, been a member of two National Poetry Slam championship teams, and visited countless colleges, conferences, and festivals, using spoken word and storytelling as doorways into critical dialogue.