Florilegium SW7 at Thurloe Place
Florilegium SW7 at Thurloe Place

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Florilegium SW7 at Thurloe Place

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More real than it really is

Artist Jacques Nimki talks about his South Kensington meadow...

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The works are visually compelling – people are struck by the bringing of the ‘outside’ in – but their power lies just as much in the way the grass effects the quality of the air, the temperature of the room and the mood of the viewer.

Jacques Nimki

"Florilegium SW7 is the fourth in a series of interior meadows; each one occupies a space in a way that is both understated and arresting at the same time. The works are visually compelling – people are struck by the bringing of the ‘outside’ in – but their power lies just as much in the way the grass effects the quality of the air, the temperature of the room and the mood of the viewer. The smell of the earth beneath the grass and the flowers, the texture and topography of the meadow, are things inherent in the material."

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"Turf is something we encounter often – London is one of the world’s greenest cities of its size – but it’s all about context, and confounding expectation. And so it should be! This is nature captured and contained within a confined space, and our sensory experiences of it are heightened twofold."

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Florilegium SW7 is a playful project, thinking through dichotomies – not only in and out, but real and fake, too.

Jacques Nimki

"Florilegium SW7 is a playful project, thinking through dichotomies – not only in and out, but real and fake, too. The meadow has a path of astroturf running through its centre, whilst artificial flowers are interspersed with those growing from the soil. Daylight floods through the gallery windows, but it’s also mimicked with a specific kind of fluorescent bulb above the installation."

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"In many respects, the work pays homage to the visions of Capability Brown, pushing them into a modern context and perhaps presenting a more honest idea of how we view nature today - more real than it really is."

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