Trees

Muratcentoventidue Artecontemporanea is pleased to present Trees, a group exhibition featuring works by Manolis Baboussis, Lydia Dambassina, Lello Gelao, Gabriela Golder, Carolina Jonsson, Clare Langan, and Margarida Paiva.

Today, the tree is recognized as a fundamental pillar of the ecosystem—a being endowed with collective intelligence and a model of resilience indispensable to our survival. Contemporary art has played a crucial role in overcoming "Plant Blindness" (the historical inability of humans to perceive plants as vital organisms), transforming the botanical element from a mere backdrop into an active "co-author" of the work and a symbol of climate urgency.

The modern artistic journey reflects this deep bond through diverse sensibilities: from the "social sculpture" of Joseph Beuys, who viewed planting trees as an act of moral regeneration, to the investigations of Giuseppe Penone, who carves into trunks to reveal their memory and time. While Ai Weiwei utilizes deadwood to denounce deforestation and the loss of cultural roots, artists like Tomás Saraceno leverage digital technologies to unveil the "Wood Wide Web"—the complex underground communication network of forests.

In conclusion, the tree is no longer a static icon, but a necessary ethical pivot for rethinking our relationship with the biosphere. Through languages ranging from photography to installation, the artists in this exhibition invite us to move beyond an anthropocentric vision and finally recognize the tree in its complex and vital entirety.

Manolis Baboussis presents the installation They Grew Together (2022), originally conceived for the solo exhibition The Garden at the Athens School of Fine Arts and here resized for the space in Bari while preserving the core synthesis of the artist's thought. The work is configured as an assemblage of heterogeneous materials: concrete cubes, a tree trunk, architecture books, all dominated by a photograph projected on the wall. The central theme is the permanent struggle between the organic element (the wood/tree) and the artificial one (the concrete), portraying branches that symbolize a vital force persisting within man-made structures.

Lydia Dambassina presents the video Lorem Ipsum, investigating the broken bond between humanity and the environment and transforming nature into a mirror of the ecological crisis. Trees become ghostly crosses swaying under cold moonlight, suggesting a suffering nature reduced to an arboreal cemetery that denounces the destructive impact of anthropization.... read the rest of the article»