Radical Botanical
30 Jun 2022
31 Jul 2022
Group Exhibition
Sarah Amazinnia | Sarah Anderson | Sharnaé Beardsley | Jo Burzynska | Justyna Burzynska | Marisa Cappetta | Tim Cheesebrough | Karen Colyer | Jo Ernsten | Jo Ewing | Masako Fisher | Ilze Jansen van Rensburg | Evelyn Keeley | Graeme Keeley | Prue Kennard | Soon-Lee Spicer | Cherie Richan | Innocenza Toritto | Giselle Weir
In Radical Botanical the plants are active, sometimes provocative. The artists of this group exhibition all explore critical, playful, and challenging new ways of engaging with plants. Novel creative methods generate new perspectives on flora that adorn, perfume, cure, invade, or struggle for survival. Sensitive engagements with vegetation propagate ecological and cultural exchanges, while past botanical traditions are reimagined or critiqued, breaking down hierarchies of artistic practice, gender, and species.
Radical Botanical’s theme echoes the growth of the arts practice of Margaret Stoddart, born in this building. After initially making accurate botanical drawings of native flora, Stoddart moved on to the decorative flower paintings deemed “an appropriate subject for young lady painters”. When she ultimately developed an impressionistic style, she was considered too radical by local critics of her day.