Landing Contemporary Art to Host The Secret Garden Online Exhibition

Press Release

A new online exhibition featuring the work of women artists uses botanical imagery to highlight the enduring connections between nature and life. The Secret Garden goes live at 10am EST on Thursday, July 1st at www.landingcontemporaryart.com.

I am overwhelmed by the feeling of having been cast from the womb (nature). My art is the way I re-establish the bonds that unite me to the universe. It is a return to the maternal source. – Ana Mendieta

Landing Contemporary Art is pleased to present the online exhibition The Secret Garden (July 1 – August 31, 2021), featuring the work of five artists, Joan Aglaia, Elizabeth Castaldo, Ailene de Vries, Nicki Klepper, and Melanie Schoeniger. Working across a variety of media, including photography, painting, and printmaking, the artists featured in this exhibition have created engaging visual constructions using botanical imagery. Every work in the show has been rendered through a process of experimentation in which the artists’ visions slowly unfolded to reveal and conceal various truths about nature as well as the human condition. By highlighting our deep bonds with the Earth, The Secret Garden honors the seeds we plant throughout our lives.

Step into the secret garden where poppies exhibit human-like energy, roots trace the skin like tattoos, and the patriarchal pages of art history are rewritten with the power of a pressed petal. This garden of delights praises nature as an enduring muse but also delves into the links between human life and nature from a woman’s perspective.

Throughout history, there has been a close relationship between the female body and botanicals as represented in art, but not always to the benefit of women. Women were once relegated to painting still lifes, while men painted any subject they pleased (often women). The associations in literature, poetry, and paintings between the female figure and flowers are rampant and often lacking in subtlety. It is works like Castaldo’s “The First Step,” 2020, and de Vries’ “Eve/Pandora,” 2018 that subvert this portrayal and offer a paradigm shift.

There’s a creeping nostalgia that comes from the act of preservation, as is evidenced in many of the works in this show. From Klepper’s glowing lumen prints to Schoeniger’s photographs, there is an insistence on holding on to the transient moments that would otherwise elude us. This is particularly poignant at the moment in which our planet is facing both a biological and an ecological crisis. Like flowers in bloom, we too have a beautiful, yet fleeting existence. By holding onto the ephemeral moments, the artwork in The Secret Garden reminds us to appreciate all that is precious before it is gone.

About Landing Contemporary Art

Founded in 2019 by independent art curator Kristie Landing, Landing Contemporary Art is an online art platform that empowers emerging artists from across the globe. Without relying on a physical storefront, LCA hosts themed pop-ups and exhibitions in different communities as well as online. The gallery website offers price transparency, an easy method of purchase, and an inside look at artist motivations and collecting tips.

For more information, visit www.landingcontemporaryart.com, or follow along on Instagram @landingcontemporaryart

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