Sybaris Collection © | 10 Pieces of Art that Reflect on Nature

10 Pieces of Art
that Reflect on Nature

SYBARIS COLLECTION

ART HAS BEEN interested in nature not only in a random way: many artists have created real aesthetic movements (such as Land Art) around nature, its reflection and care. In this selection made by Sybaris Collection we present only some of the most emblematic examples to create a timeline that draws the interest of contemporary art in nature.

Nancy Holt
Sun Tunnels
(1973-76)

Holt began her career as a multidisciplinary artist. However, her most interesting pieces came when she moved into Land Art. Sun Tunnels is an installation located in the Utah desert made up of huge tubes that allow you to look up at the sky from inside them. Each of the tubes has holes that Holt made with precision so the constellations Draco, Perseus, Columba, and Capricorn can be seen. The piece invites viewers to experience nature from a less passive point of view. Holt herself spent several days in the desert living around the sculpture, taking photographs and connecting her body to nature in an unusual way.

Collection Dia Art Foundation with support from Holt/Smithson Foundation
© Holt/Smithson Foundation and Dia Art Foundation, licensed by VAGA at ARS, New York

Ana Mendieta
Silhouette
1973-1980

Ana Mendieta was born in Cuba but at the age of 12 she took refuge in the United States. During her childhood she was separated from her father, who was imprisoned in Cuba for political reasons. Between 1973 and 1980 she produced a series of pieces in which she reflects on concepts such as pain and flagellation using her body and relating it to nature. He called it Silhouette. Artsy Net explains her piece and the fateful end of one of the most important Latin American artists in history: For these “earth body” works, Mendieta would cover herself with blood, fire, flowers, and feathers, and push herself into the ground until she left her mark. Her flesh touched beaches, archaeological sites, and Mexican alcoves, among other locations, in radical gestures that combined shamanistic rituals, performance art, and the natural world. Mendieta’s creative output is often overshadowed by her tragic death. On September 8, 1985, Mendieta fell from the 34th-floor window of her Greenwich Village apartment at the age of 35. Her husband, the Minimalist sculptor Carl Andre, was accused of murder and later acquitted of the charges. In recent years, the activist group WHEREISANAMENDIETA has emerged, protesting exhibitions that feature Andre’s works and raising awareness of domestic abuse.

Theo Jansen
Animaris
1989

For some critics and academics who study contemporary art, the best definition of an artist is a person who takes his or her aesthetic, political, social, etc., obsessions to the limit. And this definition is very close to what Theo Jansen has achieved in the last 30 years with his Strandbeesten, kinetic sculptures that move by the force of the wind and yet can “make decisions” about their movements. Jansen’s Strandbeesten are, quite simply, mesmerizing: looking at them, the viewer wonders if one day they will come to life. And that is Theo Jansen’s purpose. The Netherlands-born artist’s creatures have an organic life cycle: they are born, walk on the beach, evolve and become extinct. Their life lasts barely a year, and most of them end up as fossils.

Andy Goldsworthy
The Storm King Wall
1973-76

Located in a large and striking park in New York, Storm King Wall is a sculpture formed by 700 meters of rock wall. The wall is the result of extensive research that connects the past with the present through a time machine called nature. In the same park there are pieces by other artists such as Calder, Henry Moore or Isamu Noguchi. Goldsworthy’s wall works in two ways. The first section traces a line that wanders among the trees, guided by the stream a few meters away. The second traverses a path down a slope until it reaches a road. In the distance, the visitor does not know whether it is a sculpture, an artificial wall or a vestige of nature. Goldsworthy has succeeded with this work in linking two worlds in a harmonious and highly attractive way.

© Andy Goldsworthy, Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York

Myoung Ho Lee
Trees
2006-

Perhaps the most obvious and simple way to approach nature is through photography. Examples are National Geographic magazines and documentaries. Because of this, it is the most complicated category to approach. It requires a distinct talent to create unique pieces that stand apart from the landscape images we see daily on Instagram. Myoung Ho Lee has formed a powerful body of work in his Tree series: trees of various kinds against a white background that when stripped of their context take on a colossal force. The series, which began in 2006, travels through different landscapes in South Korea. Nature acquires an artificial halo not only because it is portrayed by a mechanical device, but also because it is stripped of a certain innocence by being isolated from its original context.

Gustav Metzger
Remember Nature
2015

When we talk about Gustav Metzger we refer to one of the most important names in nature activism. Metzger has not only produced forceful pieces but has also influenced many artists and thinkers to reflect around nature. In 2015 he created Remember Nature, a collective action to attempt a change of course. Metzger invited artists and professionals from different disciplines to propitiate a new beginning mentioning that The art, architecture and design world needs to take a stand against the ongoing erasure of species – even where there is little chance of ultimate success. It is our privilege and our duty to be at the forefront of the struggle. There is no choice but to follow the path of ethics into aesthetics. We live in societies suffocating in waste. Our task is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature; to protect nature as far as we can and by doing so art will enter new territories that are inherently creative.

Agnes Denes
Wheatfield - A Confrontation:
Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan
1982

Agnes Denes’ pieces often hide a secret. The secret of this piece is to relate nature to public space and individual experience, as well as commerce. Denes bought two acres in New York where she grew golden wheat. After carrying out all the necessary procedures, she collected close to a thousand pounds of grain that she sent to different parts of the world to fight poverty. The piece has been taken up by museums and initiatives of various kinds to launch a question: how can we use the space we inhabit and that belongs to our context to generate a change? Nature is not only beautiful landscapes but also movement and action.

Photo by John McGrall. Courtesy the artist and Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects.

Robert Smithson
Spiral Jetty
1970

If one thinks of an illustrated dictionary of contemporary art that defines Land Art, the first image that would appear should be Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, a monumental spiral located in the state of Utah that dialogues with its context in unpredictable ways: in some periods of time the piece remains hidden due to water saturation. The spiral is linked to transcendental concepts of astronomy and physics: especially those related to time and space as explored by Alfred Hitchcock in his masterpiece Vertigo. The Holt Smithson Foundation’s description mentions that “Spiral Jetty is a testament to Smithson’s fascination with entropy. Its precarious location lends itself to the structure’s inevitable disintegration, yet its impressive size and deliberate shape command the surrounding landscape. Constructed from 6,650 tons of rock and earth, the spiral continuously changes form as nature, industry, and time take effect”

Olafur Eliasson
The New York City Waterfalls
2008

The New York City Waterfalls consist of four artificial waterfalls located at different points of the East River. Installation, science, art? In Olafur Eliasson’s pieces, definitions don’t matter. This work, presented in collaboration with the Public Art Fund, generated a different way for New Yorkers and tourists to relate to their surroundings. In September 2008 Architect Magazine explained that in Eliasson’s work, “The water is gathered from the East River, collects into intake filter pools covered with mesh to protect aquatic life, and is then pumped through pipes to the top of the scaffolding over a metal trough, or weir, returning the water to the river. ´Olafur wanted the water to appear as if it were being lit by moonlight,´ explains Michael Mehl, director of lighting at New Yorkbased engineering firm JB&B.” It is one of the Danish artist’s most iconic pieces.

Photo by Americasroof

Olafur Eliasson
The New York City Waterfalls
2008

10 Pieces of Art
that Reflect on Nature