Currently being written in preparation for 28 April 2020!
A further task for the seminar on 28 April 2020 was to give special emphasis to a reference I had selected, the Among The Trees exhibition. This reference would be then discussed among the group during the seminar with regards to my project.
For this task, I had to choose between two options to complete it. The choice was between conducting a short interview/conversation with someone who is in some way connected to this reference and writing a short (400-500 word) reflective review of this exhibition.
This reflective review could also be of resources related to the reference, including:
- gallery talks
- interviews
- an article
- online conversations/talks/events
For this task, I chose the latter. As I wasn’t able to visit this in person, I used the available online resources to write the following. Fortunately, on the website was a virtual tour of the exhibition presented and narrated by Ralph Rugof – Director, Hayward Gallery.
During this virtual tour, Rugof explains how the interlacing network of branches
The interlacing network of branches,
Among The Trees was held in the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre in London from 4 March to 17 May 2020. It was one of the exhibitions that I had scheduled to visit, but this was now impossible due to the government restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overarching concept of this exhibition was to explore humanity’s relationship with trees and forests. According to the exhibition’s website page, Among The Trees:
Transports us around the world – from Colombian rainforests and remote Japanese islands to olive orchards in Israel and a 9,550-year-old spruce in Sweden. By drawing attention to the beauty, scale and complexity of trees and forests, the 38 artists in this exhibition turn our vision of the natural world on its head, inviting us to see it with new eyes.
Whether exploring the way that trees – with lifespans much longer than our own – challenge how we think about time, or revealing how they are intimately entangled with human affairs, these artists enliven and expand our appreciation of these remarkable organisms.
The artists whose work was being exhibited were:
Robert Adams, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Yto Barrada, Johanna Calle, Gillian Carnegie, Tacita Dean, Peter Doig, Jimmie Durham, Kirsten Everberg, Anya Gallaccio, Simryn Gill, Rodney Graham, Shi Guowei, Hugh Hayden, Eva Jospin, Kazuo Kadonaga, William Kentridge, Toba Khedoori, Luisa Lambri, Myoung Ho Lee, Zoe Leonard, Robert Longo, Sally Mann, Steve McQueen, Jean-Luc Mylayne, Mariele Neudecker, Virginia Overton, Roxy Paine, Giuseppe Penone, Abel Rodríguez, Ugo Rondinone, George Shaw, Robert Smithson, Jennifer Steinkamp, Thomas Struth, Rachel Sussman, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Jeff Wall.
As I’ve written in a previous post, I have already seen the work of Ugo Rondione. This was the sculpture cast from a 2,000-year-old olive tree.
This is how it looks within the gallery setting (taken from the exhibition’s website).
While
By turns poetic, adventurous and thought-provoking, this group exhibition explores our relationship with trees and forests.
Alongside sculptures and installations, drawings, paintings and photographs, there are artworks that celebrate the soaring scale of trees. These include a monumental sculpture cast from a 2,000-year-old olive tree by Ugo Rondinone; a cinematic portrait of a 30-metre-high spruce tree by Eija-Liisa Ahtila; and a vast forest of trees constructed entirely from cardboard by Eva Jospin.
At a time when the destruction of the world’s forests is accelerating at a record pace, Among the Trees vividly highlights the indispensable role that trees play in our lives and imaginations.
Featured artists
R
The exhibition is kindly supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/blog/spring-get-know-some-urban-trees
In this short video, Hayward Gallery Curatorial Assistant Marie-Charlotte Carrier explores one of the themes of our Among the Trees exhibition – the way that trees, with lifespans so much longer than our own, challenge the way that we think about time, and put our human lives in perspective.
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/blog/walking-among-giants-lifespan-trees
References:
Southbank Centre. 2020. Among The Trees. [online] Available at: <https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/hayward-gallery-art/among-the-trees> [Accessed 26 April 2020].
Among The Trees – A Virtual Tour. Hayward Gallery 2020. [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/JrjzLLPDITc> [Accessed 27 April 2020].
Jennie Meadows MA Photography 
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