Modern Nature
Modern Nature explored how Modern Nature is represented through photography today. It takes the late filmmaker, writer, gardener, artist, and activist Derek Jarman’s (1942- 1994) autobiographical canvas of the intermingling of art and life as its title and point of departure.
As Derek Jarman explained to the painter Maggi Hambling, his interests did not entirely square with those of a stately Victorian naturalist. “Ah, I understand completely,” she replied. “You’ve discovered modern nature”. Jarman wrote about the unlikely oasis he created in an unforgiving physical and psychological landscape.
For this exhibition, I invited four photographers who explore notions of Modern Nature, Sean Breithaupt (Lancashire), Robert Ellis (Co. Clare), Stephen Gill (UK), and Miriam O’Connor (Co. Cork), including interrelated personal, political, scientific, and psychological concerns.
This exhibition invited the viewer to contemplate Modern Nature through the lens of Ireland’s most thought-provoking photographers.
Exhibition production details:
Modern Nature, as part of the Cairde Visual Arts Program, is sponsored by the Sligo Leader Program.
Exhibition production team:
Cairde Sligo Arts Festival director: Tara McGowan
Modern Nature Curator: Yvette Monahan
Installation design and production: Chan Kin
Print: Ballast Design
Festival Website: https://www.cairdefestival.com/events/modern-nature