Minutia:

Moss,Mould & Mushrooms

Curatorial Statement

Mosses, moulds and mushrooms surround us. 

They feed and protect us, are indicators of a harmonious environmental balance and are responsible for creating and facilitating some of the sensual pleasures we value most. 

They are also poisons, narcotics, harbingers and signifiers of decay, abandonment and the inevitability of death.  

Throughout the centuries, the main focus of arts response to the infinite variety of nature rested on the obviously beautiful, the majestic and the awe-inspiring. However there has always been artists keen to explore our relationship with the less visually appealing and more challenging edges of the botanical spectrum. 

And yet these “plants” confound every expectation we have of them. The sheer number of species is staggering (there are 10000 moulds alone) Some have more in common with the animal kingdom. Lifespans and growth can be measured in decades as well as days. They can survive extremes of temperature and have lived through every climate emergency thus far. They provide shelter and sustenance for a myriad variety of partner organisms.

This exhibition highlights these artists and their work in this field. Some of the artists included will be well-known but others are newly discovered (or rediscovered) and some are being shown for the first time. The variety of art forms and styles are represented reflects the diversity of subject matter. 

Mosses, moulds and mushrooms are the plant kingdom’s outsiders -  misunderstood and regarded with suspicion, if regarded at all. And yet they are everywhere, hiding in plain sight. This exhibition provides an opportunity to actively engage with their different type of beauty as they have been observed by artists over the centuries.