Botanists of the Asphalt (Part II)

About

Inspired by the baudelairean figure of the flà ¢neur, the second part of this exhibition invites you to re-examine your perception of the city through the eyes of various artists. The thoughts and feelings of the flà ¢neurs in residence appear in a variety of disciplines from illustration to photography, each with a specific manifesto, blurring the divide between reality and fantasy, the visible and the invisible. The Flà ¢neur wanders the city aimlessly, passing silently amongst its people, his position the ultimate voyeur. How else to really know a city than to sidle amongst its thoughts, listening to it breathe? Our 21st century artists have embraced this theme, visually articulating their outlook on their environment and the city that houses them. The demeanour of the metropolis, seductive yet aloof, simultaneously alienates and entices them. In the busiest city an intimacy exists between the loneliness of the individual and the surge of the passing crowd who surround them. Every day presents the opportunity for the sublime or the extraordinary, often nestled between the banal routine of life. Artists involved are Julia Kollewe, Leandro Quintero, Dasha Redkina, Mary Yacoob, Emma Davis, Jon Sack and Estelle Rogers. Curated by Stephanie Pochet.