STREET BOTANY

The promotional postcard for Maria Jost's Street Botany exhibit at Fulcrum Gallery (left) alongside a TWT exclusive diagram of the north wall hanging of the same show (right).

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Fulcrum Gallery presented what I believe to be their best exhibit to date. The "drawing prints" of plants and clouds by Maria Jost are absolutely stunning. I also realized that The Child and I missed part of the Street Botany exhibit by focusing solely on the prints.*

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Maria Jost exhibited many drawing prints that consisted of India ink, pen, and collage on drawing paper and framed in minimalist black frames. These pieces combine Jost's scientific and artistic backgrounds in the perfect mixture. The images are fanciful and playful, yet organic and meticulously drawn.

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What stands out for me out of the entire evening, however, was the way that the north wall of the front gallery space was curated. It consisted of ten pieces hung on the wall such that two larger pictures "framed" eight smaller sketches (as diagrammed above).

The left piece, Figure 8: Taraxicum officinale, was a drawing print of the common dandelion. It felt simultaneously familiar and alien. It seemed as though the seeds would take flight at the slightest provocation, the gentlest wind. The right piece, Figure 5: Various unidentified mosses, was a drawing print of clouds composed of mosses. They were as though islands adrift on a sea of white parchment. One of the most intriguing things about these two larger pieces was the text written at the bottom of each poster. The text gave (a) scientific information about the subject of the drawing; (b) extraneous information that was somewhat fantastical or magical in nature, but that felt like it was vital and necessary; and (c) things to ponder or look up when the viewer left the show.

These two larger pieces acted as bookends to eight smaller sketches of various types of clouds, the Cloud Cards: (A) Cumulonimbus; (B) Altocumulus; (C) Cirrostratus; (D) Nimbostratus; (E) Stratus; (F) Cirrus; (G) Fog; and (H) Cumulus. Each cloud card had (a) the name of the cloud printed out; (b) a small representation of its accompanying cloud; and (c) one line that acted as definition for the cloud. Fog was my favorite, with it feeling the "most grounded" just as its namesake cloud.

The reason this north wall of pictures resonated with me was because of how well each piece worked with the other nine on the wall. They each were able to stand alone, as well as part of the collective. The "airiness" of Figure 8 and Figure 5 was echoed in the Cloud Cards. I could have stood there for hours, focusing on the simple yet detailed lines, if it hadn't been a school night for The Child.

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I will be visiting again. The show runs through Saturday 13 November 2010.

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*The Child kept asking me what the tent in the back room of the gallery was. I told The Child I didn't know, but that we weren't going to go back there because it wasn't part of the exhibit. It turns out that the fabric geodesic dome (the "tent") housed many of the plants that were depicted in the drawing prints. Or so I've been told. I'll have to make sure to take a peek next time.