On the necessity of gardening: an abc of art, botany and cultivation

On the necessity of gardening: an abc of art, botany and cultivation, Editor: Laurie Cluitmans
Contributors: Maria Barnas, Jonny Bruce, Laurie Cluitmans, Thiëmo Heilbron, Liesbeth M. Helmus, Erik A. de Jong, René de Kam, Alhena Katsof, Jamaica Kincaid, Bart Rutten, Catriona Sandilands, Patricia de Vries. Design: Bart de Baets

On the Necessity of Gardening appears simultaneous with the exhibition The botanical revolution, on the necessity of art and gardening that will be on view from 11 September 2021 to 9 January 2022 in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht (NL). The publication is categorically not an exhibition catalogue, but is positioned as an autonomous project. Both the exhibition and publication stem from a longer-term research by Laurie Cluitmans into the development of the cultural-historical, philosophical and social significance of the garden in relation to our current way of life. valiz.nl

Henk Wildschut, Rooted, Zaatari Camp, Jordan-April-2018. Henk Wildschut photographed the improvised gardens of people who have lost their homes and ended up in refugee camps.
KJM in botanical revolution

The garden as a place of hope and resilience


Parallel to the exhibition in the Centraal Museum, the exhibition Is it possible to be a revolutionary and like flowers? can be seen in Nest art space in The Hague.

Adopted Landscapes

Adopted Landscapes, an exhibition co-curated by Dina Mitrani with Marina Font–gallery artist and resident of Collective 62. This exhibition features the work of twenty-two artists pushing beyond the boundaries of the photographed landscape and will be on view through November 15, 2022.

In the history of art, the landscape has been one of the most explored subjects of representation. Adopted Landscapes brings together contemporary works of photography-based art that depict the landscape as a departure point for unique conceptual and narrative works. Disinterested in the photographic landscape as a conclusion, these works offer answers to the question: How does the traditional photographic landscape serve multidisciplinary artists today

Combining mediums as well as interlacing techniques, the artists build upon the formal qualities of the genre. In some cases, the landscape is transformed before the camera captures the image. In others, the image undergoes digital manipulation; while in many of the works, the printed image is the base layer where multimedia elements are manually applied to the surface.  Each artist offers a different vantage point, but their intentions are similar: to transmute the pure retinal experience of capturing nature and re-interpreting it in a way that is connected with the human experience.

These works inspire us to contemplate the ever-changing, ancient relationship between person and place.  They suggest a range of themes including climate change, erasure, nostalgia, and in some cases, a sense of displacement. Through innovative experimentation, each artist inspires different ways of seeing, making us more aware of our roles and responsibilities in this dynamic world we all share.

The Collective 62 Art Studios, founded by Nina Surel, is an independent art space devoted to creation outside of the traditional circuits of art.  Located in Liberty City, Collective 62 also seeks to reverse the growing phenomenon of gentrification through regeneration that derives from creation and community-based workshops.  

Adler Guerrier, Adriene Hughes, Aline Smithson, Amy Gelb, Charlotta Hauksdottir, Christa Blackwood, Colleen Plumb, Deryn Cowdy, Gabriela Gamboa, Ingrid Weyland, Luciana Abait, Lujan Candria, Marina Font, Marina Gonella, Manuel Nores, Phil Toledano, Roberto Huarcaya, Silvia Lizama, Tatiana Parcero, Thomas Jackson, Vanessa Marsh, and Veronica Pasman.

September 15 – November 15, 2022

Collective 62, 901 NW 62nd Street, Miami, FL 33150


Steve McQueen, Sunshine State

Sunshine State, exhibition (31 March – 31 July 2022) at Pirelli HangarBicocca, is organized in collaboration with Tate Modern, London, where the artist had presented a first version, titled ?Steve McQueen”, in 2020.

The title of the exhibition evokes the artist’s new work, Sunshine State (2022), commissioned and produced by the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) 2022.

Catalogue extract, the essay In the Dead of the Light: Steve McQueen’s Sunshine State by Cora Gilroy-Ware.


Fig. 1
Photographer unknown, African American man picking oranges at a contest in a grove, 1952, black and
white photoprint, State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.

[…] how do we know this man is American? With no name or record of his identity, he could be one of the thousands of men brought to Florida from the West Indies during this same era to carry out temporary
agricultural labour, most cutting sugar cane, some working in orange groves.

Related : Also, from State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory; same caption.

Kay Andrews picking oranges at contest in a grove - Orlando
Kay Andrews picking oranges at contest in a grove – Orlando. February, 1952

The Farmers Brawl

Farmers' Brawl

Creator: Brueghel, Pieter, ca. 1525-1569

Title: The Farmers Brawl Date: ca. 1552-1569

Date Destroyed or Lost: 1945

Nationality: Flemish

Medium: Oil on canvas Object

Dimensions: 71 x 100 cm

Former Repository: Gemäldegalerie (Dresden, Germany)Former Inventory Number: Inv Nr. 819 Circumstances of Destruction or Loss: Destroyed February 13-14 during three allied bombing raids on Dresden or in subsequent fires.

Notes: For additional information see: Bernhard, Marianne, and Klaus P. Rogner. 1965. Verlorene Werke der Malerei; in Deutschland in der Zeit von 1939 bis 1945 zerstörte und verschollene Gemalde aus Museen und Galerien. Munchen: F.A. Ackermann, p.96.

Source: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library Photo Archive, 225 South Street, Williamstown MA, 01267

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