Works
Overview

Across this exhibition, nature becomes a source of beauty, curiosity, contemplation and imagination. From the vastness of the ocean to the intimacy of a flower, the unpredictability of an animal to the enduring presence of the landscape, these works reveal the many ways artists continue to find inspiration in the world beyond themselves.

Looking to Nature brings together photography, prints and editions reflecting the many ways artists have responded to animals, plants, landscapes and the sea, from quiet observation to playful encounters and imagined interpretations.

 

Animals occupy a familiar place within this relationship. Ryan McGinley and William Wegman approach their subjects with humour and curiosity, capturing playful and unexpected interactions between humans and animals. Elsewhere, Hassan Hajjaj, John Baldessari, Nan Goldin, Daido Moriyama and Gerhard Richter present animals with a different intensity—as companions, subjects, symbols or wild presences, revealing something of their energy and unpredictability.

 

Landscape offers another kind of encounter, inviting us to look beyond the human. Hiroshi Sugimoto's Time Exposed seascapes reduce the horizon to its most elemental form, creating meditative images that speak to time, space and the enduring presence of the ocean. Similarily, Gerhard Richter's portraits of isolated landscapes capture the awe and fragility of our planet.

 

The natural world provides an endless catalogue of organic forms. Thomas Struth elevates a flowering plant into a richly detailed subject, while Andy Warhol transforms flowers into instantly recognisable icons. Damien Hirst recreates their forms through dense, tactile surfaces, whilst Linder Sterling incorporates a shell into her collage, bringing the organic and the human body together through suggestion and symbolism.