IN THE LOCKED GARDEN

"In the Locked Garden" is a group exhibition of works by Adamico, Maya Almeida, Gustavo Bar Valenzuela, Philippe Boulakia, Cristina Burnes, Hanna Ilan Yones, Maly Elbaz Almandine, Micky Goldstein, Hayat & Pirsky, Dror Hibsh, Baptiste Leonne, Evgeny Merman.

"Nature one day might recover its strength and restore everything to chaos," wrote the French surrealist painter André Masson when describing the mesmerizing landscapes of New England during his exile in the United States. This statement reflects a change in man's attitude towards nature and a shift from the imagery of a pastoral, romantic and domesticated scenery, to a yearning for a wilder nature.

Over seventy years later, in a continuous process, the wilderness is increasingly vanishing and being replaced by the domesticated environment shaped by humans. There are many examples of this: from public parks that serve as places of recreation and attractions for residents of urban areas to the private vegetable gardens intended for home use. The wild, natural landscape is changing and eroding. On the one hand, activities that involve massive exploitation of natural resources, such as quarries, oil rigs or mines, and on the other hand the increasing ecological disasters, beg the question - has man managed to completely subdue the natural world? Or will André Masson’s premonition from the 1940s come true, and nature will reclaim what was taken from it? And if that scenario does occur, will we be able to reintegrate into a wild environment?

Is the quest for unspoiled nature just an illusion that reinforces the separation between man and nature, making the abusive exploitation of the environment more acceptable, with the excuse that we are cultivating protected areas elsewhere?

The exhibition combines painting, sculptures and photography, exploring the relationship between man and nature through various representations of vegetation, landscapes and animals. The works open new perspectives to another place, perhaps more harmonious and tolerant, and between the lines one can witness the wild power of nature that may soon erupt.