UnNatural History - Herbert presents major exhibition curated by Invisible Dust
09 April 2021
Herbert presents major exhibition exploring natural history and climate change curated by Invisible Dust.
Mat Collishaw, The Machine Zone, 2019. Dimensions Variable Steel, Aluminum, Servo motors. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the artist.
Today we announce the major exhibition, UnNatural History, curated by art and environment organisation Invisible Dust, which will run from 28 May - 22 August 2021.
The exhibition of works by international naturalists and artists will explore the role of the artist as an intrinsic part of the science of natural history, enabling our modern understanding of ecology, climate change, extinction and the threats to biodiversity.
UnNatural History features over 20 international artists from Belgium, Germany, India, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Turkey, UK and USA, including four newly commissioned works responding to the Herbert’s Natural Science Collection by Frances Disley, Dubmorphology, Tania Kovats and Gözde İlkin.
Raqs Media Collective, However Incongruous, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Frith Street Gallery, London, Photo Credit: Jonty Wilde.
The observational skills and techniques of artists, including their speculations, have enabled us to learn about plants and animals in drawings, long before the advancements of technologies such as microscopes and photography. Featuring drawings, paintings, sculpture, installation, lens-based, digital media and new technologies, UnNatural History will connect these valuable collections to the past, present, and future of our relationship to nature through depictions, scientific representations and imagined realities created by artists.
The artists are: Alex Hartley / Andy Holden / Angela Brazil / Calvin Pang & David Robinson / Christina Agapakis, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg & Sissel Tolaas / Danh Võ / David Claerbout / Dorothy Cross / Doug Aitken / Dubmorphology / Frances Disley / Francis Upritchard / Gerard Byrne / Gözde İlkin / Lisa Reihana / Marianne North / Mat Collishaw / Michael Landy / Raqs Media Collective / Sarah Sze / Sonya Schönberger / Tania Kovats / Wangechi Mutu / Yinka Shonibare
The exhibition will be presented in our newly refurbished contemporary galleries, forming part of the launch programme for Coventry UK City of Culture 2021.
UnNatural History has been publicly funded by Coventry City Council and National Lottery funded by Arts Council England.