BARTHOLOMEW BEAL | JULIETTE LOSQ | SUZANNE MOXHAY | AMELIA KATE SAMPSON

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images

T.S. ELIOT - THE WASTE LAND

Having the opportunity to show contemporary artists emerging into their careers in this place rich in history has been a real privilege. The “roots..” from Eliot’s epic poem The Waste Land and the premise of the show have reached beyond any of our original imaginings, permeating the histories that ground the Garden museum quietly and firmly in its rightful place; the resting place of maritime legend and botanical explorer Captain Bligh, plant safeguarder and collector John Tradescant and their families, the recent discovery of the tombs of sixteenth century archbishops beneath the museum during renovations and the calm of the new cloister space and visionary planting throughout.

Plants and weeds creep through the cracks into Suzanne Moxhay’s derelict places, whereas for Juliette Losq they are the protagonists, reclaiming the marginal urban spaces depicted in her watercolours. For Bartholomew Beal, the museum’s narrative roots and plethora of stories are the focus of his paintings. Sculptor Amelia Sampson deals with a futuristic anthropology, her oft-organic forms being imaginings of a post-human period.

The Violet Hour, September 2018