‘HORTUS MAXIMUS celebrates the astounding variety of natural forms, texture, and contour of vegetables and spices available today in UK.
Originally designed as a site-specific installation for Cinnamon Kitchen in Bishopsgate, the following year the series was invited to lead a show at the new ArtCell Gallery, located inside CRUK Cambridge University Research Institute. The revised selection focused particularly on chilli fruits vested with beneficial healing properties, and expanded to include colour portraits of women from all over the world presenting themselves to the camera, holding vegetables as offerings or votives.
In an era of ultra-processed food, the show entices us to expand our repertoire of edible plants, and delight in the spectacular shapes grown by nature, which deserve to be immortalized through photographic process (before being eaten). The series has continued to develop, displayed in Royal Geographic Society and now incorporating fungal clusters with ‘other worldly’ qualities, exotic fruits, and patterned gourds. Shot in large format monochrome, using natural light, and printed to resemble etchings of nascent, or fossilized ancient forms, HORTUS MAXIMUS offers a forensic record of spice and vegetable anatomy for closer examination’.
Runs: 5 – 23 February 2024
Open: Monday – Friday. 11am – 10pm; Weekends 11am – 6pm.
‘Open’ View: Thursday 8 February 7pm.
Venue: Gallery 1884, The Camera Club, 16 Bowden Street, London SE11 4DS.
Public Transport: Kennington tube ...