To ring in 2022 (or maybe slam the door in 2021), here is a short list of new and old works of art visible from the great outdoors – from urban window installations and augmented reality to sculptures by mountain, starring Denja Harris, Trevor Amery, Gabriella Sanchez, Mohammed Kazem, James Hubbell and Roman De Salvo.

First, a practical map:

Denja Harris ‘Sweet’

Textile artist Denja Harris has just opened her first solo exhibition at the new Mortis Studio in Golden Hill. The exhibition is entirely encapsulated in a display case: a handful of works visible from the sidewalk. Harris creates rugs and experimental fiber works that play with color, form, abstraction and nostalgia. She sources herself from dead yarns, which is a catch-all term for things like manufacturing scraps, but also whole colors, prints, or bolts of a textile that end up not being used, either. due to lack of demand or due to a defect.

This is Harris ‘first exhibition, and it’s a living reinvention of the humble rug – a bit surreal, otherworldly, and’ 90s genre.

Details: Studio Mortis, 1038 25th St., Golden Hill. Until January 16, 2022.

Trevor Amery: “Record and Testify”

The latest addition to the NTC Foundation’s outdoor art installation program at Liberty Station is a wood and mixed media sculpture by Trevor Amery. It is his first public art work. The wood comes from fallen trees in Balboa Park – and reconstructed as an abstract version of what Amery describes as a “nurse’s log,” or the fallen trees in a forest that remain there to decompose and feed the sub- stage. I love what this play says about decadence and death, and ultimately about life.

It is installed just outside Dick Laub’s command center, in the same place where Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Nikigator” sculpture was temporarily suspended during the renovation of the Mingei. Plus, there’s a lot more outdoor art to look for in Liberty Station. here is a list of what is currently displayed.

Details: 2640 Historic Decatur Rd, Liberty Station. On view from December 22, 2021.

Gabriella Sanchez: “The weather”

The latest addition to the Murals of La Jolla project is located just next to the Lot in La Jolla. Gabriella Sanchez is an artist from Los Angeles who studied art at Point Loma Nazarene University. Her mural is a series of collage-style vignettes, from photos she took in La Jolla this summer. The text “Time” in the center is huge, each letter higher than the cars that would be parked under the structure. The mural deals with how time intersects with nature – the repeating tides, the cycles of life and the great questions of the future.

Build your own walking tour of all the murals in the series using the map here.

Details: 7611 avenue Fay, La Jolla.

Mohammed Kazem: “Directions (zero)”

Imagine if someone dropped a gigantic space zero and landed askew on a boardwalk path at the San Diego Botanical Gardens. Kazem’s augmented reality work, originally done for Abu Dhabi, draws attention to the importance of zero in mathematics, as well as issues of coexistence and peace. The coordinates of each country on the planet are inscribed on the work in the shape of a donut. Light and shadows actually transform throughout the day, and you can even walk underneath.

Kazem’s piece is one of 13 other augmented reality pieces on display at SDBG. Another item to note: “Stones Against Diamonds (Ice Cave)” by Isaac Julien is a five-screen video work, although there are no actual screens beyond the one in your palm. The work is based on Julien’s eponymous film in 2015, inspired by a letter from the architect Lina Bo Bardi, and takes place in a real ice cave.

At La Jolla you can also see outside another work by the London-based filmmaker and artist, and again, it’s based on one of Julien’s previous films. At the corner of Torrey Pines Rd. And Girard, “Eclipse (Playtime)” shows a figure standing against a circular yellow window. It is part of the Murales de La Jolla series.

Details: Augmented reality requires download the app in advance. Garden hours: Open Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesday) and open most statutory holidays (closed Christmas Day), until August 2022. San Diego Botanical Gardens, 230 Quail Gardens Dr., Encinitas. $ 10-18.

James Hubbell: Gate of the Volcanic Mountain

Built in 1990 by influential regional artist Hubbell (now 90) and a team of volunteers, this footbridge at the foot of Volcano Mountain in Julian is more of a passage. Two sculpted cedar walls jut out to the sky like peaks on either side of the trail, surrounding a trilogy of intricate iron sculptures that the Volcano Mountain Foundation says were built by Hubbell’s son, Brennan.

As an added bonus, after discovering the art, you can tackle a peak just outside of Julian. The hike is just under 5 miles, passing through patches of gnarled forest as well as extensive grassy meadows. Trail is sometimes closed after it rains so check with San Diego County Parks and Recreation in advance.

Details: Starting point of the Volcan Mountain trail, 1209 Farmer Road. at Wynola Rd., Julian.

Roman De Salvo: “The Riparium” and “the mountain of the fountain”

Completed in 2012, “The Riparium” is an aerial canvas of massive trees cut in half, then reconnected and suspended from above. It is installed in the Ruocco Park at the water’s edge (and even looks cool in satellite images). The park was named after the famous Modernist architect Lloyd Ruocco, known for the county administration building, the City Concourse square (including the Civic Theater), the 1950s petting zoo, and the work on the exhibition of Panama of 1935 and more than a hundred houses and other projects.

Fountain Mountain, tucked away just outside of the new field station near the Mission Trails equestrian scene area of ​​Mast Blvd. Part drinking fountain, part topographic model with actual mini-rivers, this is one of my recent favorites in the city’s civic art collection. While you’re at it, I recommend walking east through the prairies towards the Fortunas and then down to the Oak Canyon Trail by the river. Find the official trail map here.

Details: Ruocco Park, 585 Harbor Ln., Downtown; Mission Trails East Fortuna Staging Area Field Station, Equestrian Club, Santee.