Curious Allies, Relationships in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores ASBA traveling exhibition
"Curious Allies, Relationships in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores", is the Fifth New York Botanical Garden triennial exhibition. The exhibition is curated by the American Society of Botanical Artists and features contemporary botanical artworks depicting fungi, lichens, carnivorous plants, and parasitic plants.
Artists included are from the US, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, South Africa, and the UK. They illustrate various elements of the theme, examining often unobserved relationships fungi, lichens, parasitic, and carnivorous plants have with other plants and animals.
The forty-eight included artworks were juried from a field of 186 entries. Viewers will find unusual species from locations nearby and around the globe. Carnivorous plants like Nepenthes lowii, painted from a specimen studied in Borneo by Mieko Ishikawa, hang alongside Darlingtonia californica, painted by Jean Emmons from a specimen she grew herself in Washington State. Unusual fungi abound, for example, Octopus Stinkhorn with Yellow Dung Fly by Sarah Morrish, shown at different stages as it emerges from an egg-shaped bud to its bizarre red-tentacled, fully open form. Yuan Yuan Katy Wang painted a more familiar fungus, chicken of the woods, that she found in New York City’s Inwood Park.
ASBA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting public awareness of contemporary botanical art, to honoring its traditions and to furthering its development. It has a membership organization of about 1900 members from the US and about 25 countries around the world. More information is available at asba-art.org. A catalog can be purchased at the exhibition sites.
EXHIBITION VENUES
The New York Botanical Garden
Ross Gallery (left side of the LuEsther Mertz Library Building)
Bronx, NY May 18, 2024 - October 27, 2024
Tucson Botanical Gardens
Tucson, AZ
January 18 - June 30, 2025
Bell Museum at University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN
September 27, 2025 - January 4, 2026
Oak Spring Garden Foundation
Upperville, VA
February 19, 2026 - August 30, 2026
Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver, CO
September 27, 2026 - February 7, 2027
FRAMING SPECIFICATIONS AND ADVICE
In 2014 The American Association of Botanical Artist (ASBA) selected Metropolitan Picture Framing to be the sole provider of frames for their exhibitions. Their membership is worldwide and they wanted their exhibitions to have a visual consistency. To ensure this they standardized the profiles (offered in 3 depths), wood, and finish. In addition, Metropolitan Picture Framing offered archival quality custom mats, boards and acrylic providing everything their members needed to frame their artwork. Our Framing Advice section included detailed guidance and best practices on framing works on paper, archival hinging mounting methods, and final fitting ensuring the framing was done to museum standards. Every custom-made frame arrives in a reusable, custom-fit box, making it easy to ship artwork safely to exhibition venues.
GALLERY FRAMES
