In a world increasingly aware of its environmental responsibilities, art has become a powerful means of conveying messages about biodiversity, global warming and environmental concerns of our time. Many exhibitions feature contemporary artists who are harnessing their creativity to inspire a deeper connection with nature. Our editorial team has selected 15 exhibitions that explore the intricate beauty of the natural world and the critical need for its preservation.
Arcadia
Yto Barrada, Vanessa Beecroft, Amélie Bertrand, Julius Von Bismarck, Zuzanna Czebatul, Raphaël Emine, Hermann Hesse, Ittah Yoda, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, Lisa Lurati, Marta Margnetti, Lou Masduraud, Adrien Missika, Gabriel Moraes Aquino, Amy O’neill, Maxime Rossi, Mario Schifano, Julia Steiner, Batia Suter
Bally Foundation – Lugano, Switzerland (05/29/2024 → 01/12/2025)
The mountains, flourishing vegetation, microclimate and pleasant lifestyle have transformed the Swiss-Italian region of Ticino into a new Arcadia, symbolizing an ideal relationship with nature.
A Vision of You
Timur Si-Qin
Magician Space, Beijing, China (05/24/2024 → 07/13/2024)
This exhibition is based on Timur’s research into how conservation agriculture can be developed and supported.
Panchronic Gardens
Julian Charrière
Galerie Perrotin Marais, Paris, France (04/13/2024 → 06/01/2024)
Transcending the boundaries of ecological art, Julian Charrière’s work bridges the gap between conceptual approach and sensitive experience, science and fiction, archaic processes and forward-looking forms.
Vue de l’exposition ‘Panchronic Gardens’ de Julian Charrière à la galerie Perrotin, Paris, 2024. © Photo: Claire Dorn. Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany. Courtesy Perrotin.
Songs For The Changing Seasons
Yussef Agbo-Ola/Olaniyi Studio, Cooking Sections, Patricia Domínguez, Eva Fàbregas, Sofia Jernberg, Joan Jonas, Dominique Knowles, Lin May Saeed, Natalia Montoya, Thao Nguyen Phan, Laure Prouvost, Studio Ossidiana, Adrián Villar Rojas
Klima Biennale Wien, Vienna, Austria (04/05/2024 → 07/14/2024)
Two renowned curators committed to the environment, Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos, propose a major exhibition for the first Climate Biennale, held this year in Vienna.
Into The Woods. Perspectives on Forest Ecosystems
Rodrigo Arteaga, Anca Benera & Arnold Estefán, Eline Benjaminsen & Elias Kimaiyo, Alma Heikkilä, Monica Ursina Jäger, Markus Jeschaunig, Isa Klee, Susanne Kriemann, Jeewi Lee, Antje Majewski, Richard Mosse, Katie Paterson, Oliver Ressler , Abel Rodríguez, Diana Scherer, Rasa Šmite & Raitis Šmits
Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna, Austria (04/05/2024 → 08/18/2024)
Also as part of the new Vienna Climate Biennial, 16 artists explore the benefits of forests for all living things and the climate, and warn of their perils.
Rodrigo Arteaga, Grid, 2024 and Monocultures, 2020. Courtesy of the Artist © Photo: Rudolf Strobl
Actions For The Earth: Art, Care & Ecology
Ackroyd & Harvey, Lhola Amira, Arahmaiani, Sayan Chanda, Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser), Lololol, Ana Mendieta, Zarina Muhammad, Patrina Munuŋgurr, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Eric-Paul Riege, Tabita Rezaire, Cecilia Vicuña, Katie West, and Zheng Bo
The Block Museum, Evanston, USA (01/26/2024 → 07/07/2024)
This traveling group exhibition explores healing and conservation actions as artistic practices, helping to encourage awareness of our interconnectedness with Earth.
La Pensée Férale
Daniel Steegmann Mangrané
Mendes Wood Dm, Paris, France (04/05/2024 → 05/26/2024) & Esther Schipper, Paris (04/02/2024 → 07/20/2024)
For Steegmann Mangrané, tropical forests reveal a mode of existence represented in the different cosmologies of Amerindian peoples, and which shapes notions of perspective, subjectivity and action.
Fertile Landscapes
Santidio Pereira
Museum Of Modern Art, Sao Paulo, Brazil (04/02/2024 → 09/01/2024)
The solo exhibition by the artist originally from the rural region of Piauí in north-east Brazil, renowned for its semi-arid ecosystem, focuses on the plant as the origin of the world, the first step in a food chain that transfers energy across different species.
Ecospheres
Sutapa Biswas, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Mater Inicitiva, Bronwyn Katz, Zayaan Khan & Coila-Leah Enderstein, Rithika Merchant, Ernesto Neto, Zizipho Poswa, Jonah Sack, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Russell Scott, Michael Tsegay
Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa (05/31/2024 → 12/07/2024)
Through the concept making with (living with), the artists tackle the themes of environment and climate from three “atmospheres”: water, air and earth, calling on narrative, migration and ancestral knowledge.
PRATIQUES COSMOMORPHES – (RÉ)GÉNÉRER LE VIVANT
Maria Thereza Alves, Minia Biabiany, Ursula Biemann, Chiara Camoni, Tiphaine Calmettes, Mimosa Echard, Fabien Giraud & Raphaël Siboni, Suzanne Husky, Soun Gui Kim, Maria Loboda, Sandra Lorenzi, Marie-Claire Messouma Manlanbien, Dane Mitchell, Sabine Mirlesse, Kate Newby, Josèfa Ntjam, Jean-Baptiste Perret, Jean Painlevé, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Jérôme Dupeyrat & Laurent Sfar, Charwei Tsai & Tsering Tashi Gyalthang
ICA Villeurbanne, Villeurbanne, France (03/21/2024 → 07/28/2024)
The artists featured in this exhibition engage the creative, the sensitive and the imaginary as tools for renewing our visions of the world in order to protect living beings and their environments.
Your Curious Journey
Olafur Eliasson
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (05/10/24 → 09/22/2024)
This first retrospective in Southeast Asia devoted to the artist Olafur Eliasson addresses the main themes of his practice – embodiment, experience, perception, and the urgency of climate action.
Installation view of ‘Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey’ at SAM at Tanjong Pagar Distripark; Photo: Joseph Nair, Memphis West Pictures; Image courtesy of the artist and Singapore Art Museum; © 2024 Olafur Eliasson
Net Zero
Mohammad Alfaraj, Zahrah Alghamd, Ugochukwu Eke, Ane Graff, Ava Roth, Moffat Takadiwa, Willy Verginer
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (09/13/2023 → 05/31/2024)
International and Saudi contemporary artists such as Mohammad Alfaraj, spotlight sustainability, the environment and how humanity can rethink its relationship with nature.
Coalition
Thierry Boutonnier, Paul Duncombe, Fabiana Ex-Souza,Marina Gioti, Shaun Gladwell, Elsa Guillaume, Louis Guillaume, Hehe, Suzanne Husky, Hypercomf, Sandra Lorenzi, Angelika Markul, Clément Richem, Belen Rodriguez, Stéphanie Sagot, Erik Samakh, Linda Sanchez, Momoko Seto, Stefan Shankland, Shivay La Multiple, Laurent Tixador, Marie Velardi…
Gaîté lyrique, Paris, France (04/24/2024 → 06/02/2024)
Artists committed to the ecology of territories present different ways of intervention and re-connexion with nature. Sara Favriau, Capucine Vever and Anaïs Tondeur, 3 winners of the Art of Change 21 prize, are invited to take part.
A World Undone
Nicholas Mangan
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney, Australia (04/05/2024 → 06/30/2024)
Nicholas Mangan’s work explores how social, political and economic changes are linked to material transformation, and challenges urgent global issues such as the impact of mining and climate change.
Nicholas Mangan, Termite Economies, 2018-20, installation view, Nicholas Mangan: A World Undone, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2024, image courtesy the artist, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sutton Gallery, Australia and LABOR, Mexico © the artist, photograph: Hamish McIntosh
60th Venice Biennale: Foreigners Everywhere
Pacita Abad, Claudia Andujar, Iván Argote, Aycoobo (Wilson Rodríguez), Disobedience Archive, Daniel Otero Torres, Yinka Shonibare, Superflex, Joaquin Torres-Garcìa, Santiago Yahuarcani, Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami, Yêdamaria, Anna Zemánková…and others.
Giardini & Arsenale Pavilion, Venice, Italy (04/20/2024 → 11/24/2024)
Read our dedicated article on the Venice Biennale
Editorial team of Art of Change 21
Cover: Oliver Ressler, The path is never the same (Filmstill), 2022. Courtesy der Künstler, àngels, Barcelona und The Gallery Apart, Rom © Oliver Ressler, Bildrecht Wien / Vienna 2024
Impact Art News, March-May 2024 #48
