Until March 4, you can wander between Paul Kasmin Gallery‘s two Chelsea locations, and through 600 years of natural history brought to life through woodcuts, sculptures, paintings, projections, dioramas, and time-lapse video. Curated by Danny Moynihan, “Naturalia” is a fresh take on art history and the first collaborative exhibition of its kind between Paul Kasmin and the Sotheby’s Old Masters Department. The show features works from artists who vividly explore nature, and show us how our understanding and relationship with it have evolved through the ages.
The result is fascinating, as in the same space, one can face a study of insects from the Dutch School dating to the early 17th century; contemplate Damien Hirst‘s Devastation, a glistening black canvas comprised of thousands of dead flies; put on some virtual reality goggles to to see Michael Joo and Gary Hustwit‘s work featuring a live eagle and snake; all while admiring paintings from a follower of Giuseppe Arcimboldo dating to 1572.
293 & 297 Tenth St
The key highlight of “Naturalia,” though, is to stand between two monumental depictions of the same rhinoceros, created nearly 500 years apart—Albrecht Dürer‘s woodcut Rhinoceros (1515) and Walton Ford‘s Loss of the Lisbon Rhinoceros (2008)—both inspired by the majestic animal that arrived in Lisbon, Portugal in 1515, before it was lost in a shipwreck while on its way to be presented as a gift to Pope Leo X.
Paying tribute to naturalist masters and contemporary artists’ fascination with nature, its beauty and mortality, “Naturalia” strikes hard and leaves a lasting impression for amateurs and seasoned collectors alike.
January 19 – March 4, 2017
“Naturalia” will be on view at 293 and 297 Tenth Avenue until March 4.
