IMAGINING THE AMAZON
‘Short of Aphrodite, there is nothing lovelier on this planet than a flower, nor more essential than a plant…Without green plants we would neither breathe nor eat. On the under-surface of every leaf a million movable lips are engaged in devouring carbon dioxide and expelling oxygen.’ The Secret Life of Plants (Tomkins, Bird 1973)
Imagining the Amazon is an exhibition of new paintings and monotypes by Tamsin Relly, curated by Alteria Art in the Garden Room at The Collective, House of St Barnabas. The series explores the relationships between wild and cultivated jungle environments; and the preservation of these ecosystems through conservation, remote constructed greenhouses and our imaginations. While celebrating the wonder and bio-diversity of life in the world’s rainforests, Relly’s work considers the fragility and decline of these habitats through deforestation and climate change.
Set against the backdrop of the rainforest-inspired wallpaper in the Garden Room, the exhibition reflects on how notions of exotic environments are woven into the every-day through art, design and popular culture. ‘I’ve always taken comfort in the idea of wilderness, but as more of our natural spaces are cultivated, developed or polluted, perhaps any truly untouched nature is at risk of living only through our imaginations.’
Relly has drawn from both found media imagery and first-hand observations in locations such as The Eden Project in Cornwell, Milkwood forests in South Africa, the fabricated oasis of Las Vegas and displaced wildlife in zoos. She works with the fluid and unpredictable qualities of her materials and processes to present impressions of natural and urban environments in states of uncertainty or impermanence.
7% of all sales will go towards World Land Trust for the purchase and protection of tropical forests.
Find images of the work here.
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Created in 2012 by Lauren Jones and Alix Janta-Polczynski, Alteria Art is an art organisation with a two-fold core mission: to support young and emerging talents and to champion a more open access to art making and collecting. Alteria Art aims to implement those goals, working closely with both established and emerging contemporary artists through an eclectic mix of projects.
The House of St Barnabas is a not-for-profit private members’ club in Soho that supports those affected by homelessness back into lasting paid work by offering integrated hospitality training and work experience in its social business. The club is a dynamic, cultural space for the continually curios, the interested and interesting and those who are motivated by social change.
The Collective at The House of St Barnabas showcases the work of emerging and established contemporary artists in a programme of visual art conceived to inspire and uplift the members and staff. The Collective encapsulates the essence of The House of St Barnabas, in its ethos of collaboration and its commitment to nurturing talent. The Collection includes donations and loans from celebrated artists such as founding member Rankin, and artists including Tracey Emin, Jeff Koons, Damian Hirst , Yinka Shonibare MBE, The Chapman Brothers, Martin Creed and Cathy de Monchaux.