Two NEW exhibitions at Kew (Oct 2023 - April 24)

Two new exhibitions open at the end of this week at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew 

• Mat Colishaw - Petrichor - which includes premieres of new artwork
• Young Botanical Artist - following the competition held by the Shirley Sherwood Collection in liaison with Kew Gardens.

You can find summaries of both below. I'll be writing reviews of both after I've seen them.

The exhibitions open on 20th October 2023 and continue until 7th April 2024.
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Mat Colishaw - Petrichor

Mat Colishaw is a 57 year old English artist who works in photography and video. His work includes the creation of digital artworks using NFT and AI. He became well known when his work first surfaced as part of the Young British Artists group in the late 80s.

The Petrichor exhibition at Kew will dominate Galleries 1-5 and 

• showcases new commissions alongside existing works,
• draws on an array of evocative imagery from the natural world.  
• includes sculptural installations, using a variety of pioneering techniques to explore the relationship between the natural world, art history, and how representations of nature in art can impact the way in which we see the world around us.

You can also see more about the Petrichor exhibition on his website.

“Bringing Mat Collishaw’s innovative work to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art is hugely exciting, and this exhibition promises to be an evocative and wonderfully unique experience, unlike anything we’ve ever seen in the gallery before. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and the tradition of botanical art, Mat’s use of cutting-edge technology alongside the innovations of the past makes this exhibition a tantalising prospect for visitors to Kew this autumn.”
​Maria Devaney, Galleries and Exhibition Leader at RBG Kew

New works in 2023 - Premieres
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• Gallery 2: UK premiere of Even to the End - a new 9-minute video installation of a journey through the world inspired by the Wardian Case (a sealed protective container used for collecting plants from around the world)

This large-scale projected work will take over Gallery 2 and uses pioneering technology to immerse viewers in a 9-minute sequence inspired by the innovation of the Wardian Case and the transportation of plant specimens around the globe. The video is accompanied by Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, a composition which draws inspiration from Virgil’s Georgics, a poem about agriculture, propagation, and growth, and how humanity’s efforts to cultivate the land is constantly under threat from destructive powers. ​
About "Even to the End"

• Alluvion gets its world premiere as part of this exhibition. This presents several new AI paintings (oil on canvas). This series draws inspiration from 17th century still life paintings of flowers and evolution.​
• Heterosis is collection of dynamic NFTs which combine genetic algorithms with blockchain technology to facilitate the hybridisation of mutable digital flowers. Inspired by the tulip mania of the 17th century, this collection will receive its global gallery premiere at Kew. 
  • You can view the collection of digital creations to date on this website

Previous work
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• The Centrifugal Soul (2016) - a zoetrope which creates a stunning illusion of motion. It depictsan animated scene of bowerbirds and birds of paradise as they perform elaborate courtship displays against an ornate backdrop of flowers in perpetual bloom. 
• Albion (2017) has been exhibited in other venues - and below you can see a video from one of them.

this large-scale piece depicts the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, which is estimated to have been standing for over 800 years. It is one of the largest oak trees in the country with a mythical connection to Robin Hood. This slowly rotating, almost life-sized animation has been captured using a laser scanner, creating the eerie spectre of a tree suspended somewhere between life and death. This artwork was created at the time of the European referendum and its title, Albion, refers to the ancient oak tree as an emblem of England, a ghost like apparition supported by chains and crutches. 

Other works included in the exhibition include 

• Columbine (2018) and Whispering Weeds (2011) - both animated versions of Albrecht Dürer’s watercolour paintings The Piece of Turf with the Columbine and The Great Piece of Turf.  Widely regarded as early masterpieces in the field of botanical art, Dürer’s paintings are in effect conveyed as 3D art and are brought to life using animation, bringing these pioneering depictions of the natural world into the 21st century.

• The Venal Muse (2012) - a series of sculptural pieces (created using Enamel Paint, Glass, Resin, Steel, Woo) which draw inspiration from Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), poetry which explores decadence, eroticism, and lost innocence.

This is a Tate Video of Mat Colishaw talking about how he approaches creating his artwork which gives you a sense of what he's about.

“I’m delighted to be bringing this exhibition to Kew Gardens, a place that's not only steeped in history and natural beauty, but also provides the perfect setting for my work to be experienced in a new way. The natural world and its astonishing biodiversity are an abundant source of inspiration and provide seemingly endless opportunities for creation. I’ve always been interested in how nature is depicted through art, and how this in turn helps us understand the world around us. With its rich horticultural heritage and ongoing commitment to environmental conservation, Kew Gardens is the ideal location for me to explore the intersection of art, nature, and technology with this exhibition.”
​Mat Colishaw

Young Botanical Artist

Gallery 6 of Kew Gardens’ Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art will showcase 50 shortlisted artworks from the inaugural Young Botanical Artist Competition.

The competition was created by The Shirley Sherwood Collection in collaboration with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew:

• the competition was open exclusively to entrants aged 16-25
• entrants were  asked to submit two-dimensional artworks on the theme of ‘Trees’.
• over 1,000 entrants from 77 countries entered the competition
• some of the world’s most renowned botanical artists and curators donated their time to judge the entries, choosing works that represented their subject creatively, but with scientific accuracy.

The Exhibition offers a unique opportunity for the next generation of botanical artists to showcase their work in a gallery setting.

• The final selection of 50 artworks are being exhibited in Gallery 6. I gather that the entries received were impressive and those selected for the exhibition are very high quality. 
• These were submitted by artists from 17 countries, including Brazil, India, Japan, Uzbekistan, and Indonesia.

The exhibition is open between 20 October 2023 – 7 April 2024 between 10am and 5pm.
Note: The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art will open late at 12 noon on the first Monday of every month due to planned maintenance.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to vote for their favourite artwork and a People’s Choice award will be announced in April.

NOTE: I will have separate blog posts about the prizewinners and the works in the exhibition.

Gallery entry to the two exhibitions is included in tickets for Kew Gardens general admission.
​You can read more on the website about concessions.