Shirley Sherwood Gallery

Kew Gardens UK

At Kew Gardens London the new gallery holds one of the world's greatest collections of botanical art, with more than 200,000 items dating back to the days before photography could be used for the study of plants. This gallery is the first to be dedicated to botanical art. Named after the renowned British botanical artist Shirley Sherwood the collection includes pieces by 18th and 19th century masters, including Ehret, Redouté and the Bauer brothers, along with works by contemporary artists. 

Coralarium

by Jason de Caires Taylor

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Coralarium is a semi-submerged art gallery filled with nearly 30 sculptures that will act as a habitat for coral and other marine species.

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“It’s almost like an inverse zoo,” says de Caires Taylor in a short film documenting the project. “In cities, we go into space and look at caged animals. Whereas this is almost like we’re the tourists, but we’re in the cage and the marine life can come and go and look at us. It’s almost a reversal of how we interact with wildlife.”

View the remarkable project on this video:

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Lisa Roberts

Photographer Bats & Habitat

Lisa's documentary images of the Grey-headed Flying Fox habitat on the Mitchell River Bairnsdale are key evidence that underpins the struggle to protect the colony. She has spear-headed a campaign by Friends of Bats and Habitats Gippsland to protect the the colony under threat by local authorities who are bent on destroying their remaining habitat.  The group have recently made a submission to the Senate Enquiry into Australia's Faunal Extinction Crisis and strengthened ties with the Australian Bat Society that links communities and publishes the latest research. For Lisa Robert's photos of pregnant and juvenile bats click below. Her recent photographic exhibition at East Gippsland Art Gallery demonstrates her knowledge and strong advocacy as well as her delicate and natural technique.

Michael Prideaux

Australian Photographer

Michael Prideaux is creating some of the most sensitive and spectacular images of the native flora and fauna of Australia. Michael recently captured native wildflowers in bloom in Western Australia.

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The great naturalist Charles Darwin studied the intelligence of plants in the 19th century. Scientists now believe that plants have far more senses than humans—possibly as many as twenty. They can measure humidity, detect gravity, and sense electromagnetic fields. They can even communicate, warning each other if there is danger is nearby.

2019 Threatened Species Children’s Art Exhibition

Discover Australia’s threatened species from the perspective of young artists in this outdoor exhibition.

The Threatened Species Children’s Art Competition helps children unleash their artistic creativity while learning about the extinction crisis facing our native plants and animals.

Young artists aged 5–12 can choose any Australian threatened plant or animal species to design an original work of art. Finalists’ artworks will be printed and hung in an outdoor exhibition at the Gardens.

There are three age categories: 5–7 year olds, 8–10 year olds and 11–12 year olds.

Prizes will also be awarded in the special categories of most unusual entry, best plant entry, best group-work entry and the best written explanation or story of a work.

Two new prize categories have been added for 2019: best all abilities and best local species (the ACT local area extends to the sea including Jervis Bay and the rest of coastal southeast NSW)

BANKSIA ARTISTS

'Besotted by Banksia' features contemporary artist Amok Island, 250 years after Sir Joseph Banks arrived in Australia on Cook's  Endeavour with young illustrator Sydney Parkinson(1770). With an eye for endemic species and habitat he too works closely with scientists to identify and illustrate many species, not as 'discovery' but to draw attention to the threat of their extinction.

The monumental works are rendered in a geometric digitized form with a limited color palette. Minimalist in style he works on vacant walls and in more formal gallery and public art spaces.

Banksia is threatened by land clearing, frequent burning, disease and a number of species are rare and endangered. Gippsland illustrator Celia Rosser has documented the entire genus.Banksia, named after Sir Joseph Banks were first illustrated by the young Sydney Parkinson on Cook's Endeavour voyage to Australia (1770). Their nectar is a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush for birds, bats, rats, possums, bees and a host of invertebrates. Banksia is threatened by land clearing, frequent burning and disease, and a number of species are rare and endangered. In recent times Celia Rosser is credited with documenting the entire genus  and  contemporary muralist Amok Island has depicted the Banksia on silos in the Western Australian wheat belt.

Doxiadis plus Landscape Architects Greece

Based in Athens and under the leadership of Thomas Doxiadis this firm have set the framework for the restoration and conservation of native Greek landscapes.

"Our designs are scaffoldings for living organisms, human and others, to develop their own meaningful existence.”

As an art history scholar Thomas Doxiadis brings a nuanced sensibility to the layers of ancient myth and cultural rubble. There is a sculptural element of ‘land art’ in all his designs.

He taps into the naturalness of the Greek landscape; its ruins, textures, rocks, plants, trees, villages, goats and bucolic sounds.

SAM COX

Australian Gardener

Many of his 'bush-like' gardens are to be found in residences within a 10 -15K radius of the CBD of Melbourne and in primary schools where kids can climb rocks and 'go bush' at lunch-time. A practitioner of landscape 'naturalism' Cox is influenced by the Australian pioneers Edna Walling, Ellis Stones and Gordon Ford. He depends on skilled application rather than drawn plans and employs design and construction techniques learned from his mentor, Gordon Ford. Nuanced rock placement, subtle earth shaping and layered group plantings are essential elements of his naturalist style.

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