Earth's Bodies. Our Bodies

Ciała ziemi. Ciała nasze – past and present ways of seeing nature

Opening of the exhibition: → 25.09 (Friday), 6:00 pm NOMUS – Nowe Muzeum Sztuki and Gdańska Galeria Fotografii ul. Jaracza 14, Gdańsk

The opening will be interpreted into PJM. Admission free!

Can matter act? Are the growth of a plant, the circulation of water, the cracking of wood or the slow decay of organic tissue merely processes taking place in the background of human history, or might they constitute a form of agency that we have for a long time failed to notice?

From 25 September, the exhibition devoted to historical and contemporary ways of depicting nature and the changing relations between what is human and what is non-human can be seen at NOMUS – Nowe Muzeum Sztuki. It is the first exhibition in the series Every Art of the Past Was Once Contemporary, which juxtaposes works from different eras to show the continuity of sensibility and the transformation of ways of looking at reality.

The starting point of the exhibition is early modern prints of plants – leaves, grasses and flowers – read not only as scientific illustrations but also as visual traces of wonder at the very existence of life forms. They present nature as an autonomous object of cognition, removed from utilitarian and symbolic contexts, and marvel is understood here as an intensity of seeing focused on the material complexity and order of even the most inconspicuous biological forms. Contemporary works develop this attitude, shifting the emphasis from representation to relation and coexistence. Nature is no longer merely observed, but becomes an actor in real processes such as growth, circulation, decay and regeneration, in which the artwork is included.

Nature as a network of interdependence

– We are interested in nature not as a still image or a backdrop for human activity, but as matter that works constantly: it grows, circulates, soaks, decays and regenerates. In many of the works presented, these processes are not merely the subject of representation but actually co-create the work. This allows us to look at agency differently – to notice that changes in the world are not solely the result of human decisions and actions – says Aleksandra Grzonkowska, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition asks what changes when nature ceases to be treated as a subject, a background or a resource. The works presented allow us to see it as matter with its own dynamics: growing, soaking, circulating, undergoing transformations and affecting human bodies, gestures and ways of knowing. Instead of a single story about nature, the exhibition proposes several parallel perspectives: scientific, aesthetic, bodily, ecological and material.

Every Art of the Past Was Once Contemporary

– Placing old botanical prints alongside contemporary art allows us to see both the continuity and the transformation of ways of thinking about nature. Past depictions grew out of careful observation and wonder at the complexity of life forms. Contemporary works develop this sensibility, but also direct attention to processes, coexistence and material dependencies. It is therefore not a simple opposition between old and new ways of seeing, but a matter of showing how the questions we ask nature change – adds Maja Murawska, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition features works by Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Bogna Burska, Honorata Martin, Teresa Murak, Alicja Patanowska, Agnieszka Polska, Łukasz Rusznica, Zofia Sobolewska Ursic, Teresa Tyszkiewicz, Rafał Wilk, Liliana Zeic and Jakub Julian Ziółkowski, juxtaposed among others with canonical early botanical works such as Flora Prussica by Johannes Loeselius, Kreutterbuch by Pietro Andrea Mattioli or Zielnik by Szymon Syreński from the collections of the PAN Library in Gdańsk, and eighteenth-century works by Barbara Regina Dietzsch and Johann Friedrich Schulze from the collections of the Prints and Drawings Studio of the Department of Old Art of the National Museum in Gdańsk.

The works presented also come from the art collection of PKO Bank Polski, the ING Polish Art Foundation, Galeria Consonni Radziszewski, Zachęta - Narodowa…