BERLIN.- A politician who paints flowers? I first read about it in SZ magazine and found the pictures simply likeable. I also found the fact that a politician is artistically active great. I immediately thought of the tulip pictures by photographer Luzia Simons, which have inspired me for years, and not only because of their refined technique. Her tulips are oversized, they also show the exaggeration of the plant by the Dutch in the 16th century, who had a cult around the tulip. In Hofreiter's watercolours, however, the tulips stand innocently in their natural habitat. Clear in their composition, painted with strong colours, they always come down to the essential, their natural presence. They reveal a beauty, but do not show idylls.

In a second group of pictures, pavlov's dog presents their paintings, which were created in Brazil and Peru. Ten percent of all known species on earth are at home in Amazonia. The world's largest tropical forest has the world's greatest biodiversity. During an exploratory trip through the Amazon, Simons, who was born in Brazil, took photographs with superimposed Polaroid film. We marvel at the lush vegetation of the unique wetland biotope. Hofreiter's plant images are juxtaposed with the mountains of the Andes. The meltwater from these mountains flows into the Amazon and forms a cycle.

In the encounter of artistic, scientific and not least nature-protecting positions, we come close to what used to be united in the person of a universal scholar like Alexander von Humboldt. Today, the knowledge, exploration and communication of connections in nature are divided into separate areas and are also considered separately. We want to show the connection between how processes in nature take place, how they depend on each other and how ecosystems function. The idea that there is always a danger in human intervention in them is unfortunately real. Our starting point is artistic works, each of which focuses on a section of nature, but which, when examined more closely, allow us to see the bigger picture.




On 7.8.21 at 18:00 we will talk with Luzia Simons and Anton Hofreiter about their view of nature and why intact ecosystems and species protection are needed. Another highlight will be the auction of the works on 8.8.21. The proceeds will be donated to a civil society organisation of indigenous environmental activists in the Brazilian Amazon.

--Michael Biedowicz

Luzia Simons *1953 in Quixadá, Ceará, Brasilien; 1978 University degree in history, Paris VIII, Vincennes 1984 - 1986 Study of Fine Art at Paris I, Sorbonne since 1986 in Germany, Stuttgart; lives and works in Berlin; SOLO SHOWS (Selection) 2020 Stockage, Galerie Andreas Binder, Munich 2019 Stockage, Museum Experimental Gallery at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu_China Naturgeschichten, Museum im Kleihues-Bau, Kornwestheim, Germany Flowers, Galerie der Stadt Fellbach, Fellbach, Deutschland Mil Flores, Kunstsaison 2019, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France Humboldt ist niemals da gewesen, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany 2018 Lustgarten, Tristan Lorenz Gallery, Frankfurt/Main, Germany Between Exploration and Revelation (mit Luo Fahui), Sanya Museum of Contemporary Art, Sanya, China 2017 Stockage, Arthouse Bregenz, Austria Blacklist, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France 2016 Out of the Blue, Mikael Andersen Gallery , Kopenhagen, Denmark Florale Welten – geheimnisvolle Gärten, Schlichtenmaier Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany Stockage Vanitas Rerum, Archives Nationales de Paris, France Blacklist, interARTividade, Galeria do Pátio Batel, Curitiba, Brazil Jardin, Saison d’art 2016, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire, Chaumont-sur-Loire, France

Anton Hofreiter *1970 in Munich; 1990 university entrance qualification. Studied biology at the Ludwig-Maximilian University, graduated in 1997, doctorate in biology in September 2003. Since October 2003 working as an independent postdoc at the Institute of Systematic Botany. Since 1984 active, since 1986 member of Bündnis90/Die Grünen (Alliance 90/The Greens), 1988 to 1995 spokesperson in the Sauerlach local association, since 1996 in the Munich-Land district association, since 2001 the LAK Ecology. 2002 to 2005 local councillor in Sauerlach, from 2002 to 2014 district councillor in the Munich district council. Member of the Bundestag since 2005; 2011 to 2013 Chairman of the Committee on Transport, Building and Urban Development; since October 2013 Chairman of the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group.