THE SECRET LIFE co-curated with Leidy Churchman: Karl Blossfeldt, Vern Blosum, Alejandro Cesarco, Leidy Churchman, Sara Cwynar, Mark Dion, Nicole Eisenman, Rochelle Goldberg, Dmitri Hertz, David Horvitz, Xylor Jane, Joachim Koester, Elka Krajewska, Kate Levant, Ann Lislegaard, Win McCarthy, Corey McCorkle, Benny Merris, Charlotte Prodger, Anna Rosen, Thomas Schütte, Sergei Tcherepnin, James Welling

24 June – 7 August 2015

  • Herbarium , 2007-2011 Hand painted acrylic wash, spitbite aquatint, à la poupée photogravure, with hand applied letterpress labels and stamps in 7 parts plus colophon in bleach stained folio Each 16 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches (unframed prints and colophon) Each 20 3/8 x 15 3/8 inches (framed) Edition of 20

  • Equisetum Hiemale / Acer , 1928 Photogravure Image: 10 1/4 × 7 5/8 inches Paper: 12 1/4 × 9 1/2 inches each

  • Pink Loco , 1961 Oil on canvas 40 x 30 inches

  • 6 Roses , 2014 Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches

  • Peanut Constellation (Hercules) , 2015 Acrylic sheet, Urethane Resin 36 x 24 inches

  • Breath Exchange with Plant , 2012-2015 Plant (Baobab tree), newsprint, breath Edition of 3

  • Leap Second , 2014 Oil on panel 18 x 24 inches

  • Leap Second , 2015 Oil and ink on panel 24 x 30 inches

  • 365 Pie (15, 764) , 2007 Ink on paper 14 x 17 inches

  • From the Secret Garden of Sleep , 2008 Silver gelatin print 40 x 30 inches Edition of 5

  • Wild Rock: A Message from the Valley of the Pigeons. (Late sun reaches the valley... , 2015 Wax pencil on blackout fabric 54 x 42 3/4 inches

  • The Secret Life , 2015 Framed printed materials Variable dimensions

  • Disoriented Palm Reader , 2015 Deconstructed pressure heat chamber (aluminum, brass, steel hardware, plastic), palm fiber, nellcor maxa SpO2 sensors, electrical tape, aluminum, solder, copper wire, enamel, acrylic glaze, spray adhesive, rubber ear buds, eye droppers, super glue Variable dimensions

  • Disoriented Palm Reader , 2015 Deconstructed pressure heat chamber (aluminum, brass, steel hardware, plastic), palm fiber, nellcor maxa SpO2 sensors, electrical tape, aluminum, solder, copper wire, enamel, acrylic glaze, spray adhesive, rubber ear buds, eye droppers, super glue Variable dimensions

  • Untitled , 2015 Vinyl, paper, aerosol enamel, fungus, graphite, plastic laminate 16 x 9 inches

  • Untitled , 2015 Graphite, Nellcor Maxa SpO2 sensors, plastic laminate on paper 53 x 11 3/4 inches

  • The Flower from Weena , 2014 3D printed white nylon 16 x 5 inches Edition of 5

  • The Unexpected Guest , 2015 Mixed media, expanding foam, old shoes 7 x 10 x 14 inches


  • Duty Free Thistle (Delphi) , 2014 Veuve Clicquot box, plastic bottle, thistle 13 x 7 1/2 inches

  • An Other Another 15 , 2014 Archival Inkjet on Dibond 18 x 24 inches Edition of 3

  • An Other Another 76 , 2015 Archival Inkjet on Dibond 18 x 24 inches Edition of 3

  • My YoUniverse , 2015 Oil, floatie, and detritus on canvas 40 x 36 inches

  • Hope , 2010 Ink and pencil on paper 15 x 11 inches

  • 14Y , 2011 Chromogenic print mounted to acrylic Framed: 58 x 48 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches Print: 48 x 37 inches Edition of 2

  • Encyclopedia Grid (Banana) , 2014 Chromogenic print mounted on Plexiglas 40 x 32 inches Edition of 3

  • Fragile Images That Keep Producing Death While Attempting To Preserve Life: Flowers found in crimes scenes 001 , 2011 Archival ink-jet print 28 x 21 inches Edition of 5

  • Fragile Images That Keep Producing Death While Attempting To Preserve Life: Flowers found in crimes scenes 002 , 2011 Archival ink-jet print 28 x 21 inches Edition of 5

  • Fragile Images That Keep Producing Death While Attempting To Preserve Life: Flowers found in crimes scenes 003 , 2011 Archival ink-jet print 28 x 21 inches Edition of 5

  • Fragile Images That Keep Producing Death While Attempting To Preserve Life: Flowers found in crimes scenes 004 , 2011 Archival ink-jet print 28 x 21 inches Edition of 5

  • Hungry Hungry 7 , 2015 Metallic glazed ceramic crocodile head 20 x 21 inches

  • Cannibal Junk , 2015 Metallic glazed ceramic elements, carpet, sprouted chia seed Variable Dimensions (carpet dimensions: 106” x 106” with cut out)

  • Cannibal Junk , 2015

  • Cannibal Junk , 2015

  • Cannibal Junk , 2015

  • Cannibal Junk , 2015

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Opening Wednesday 24 June, 6–8pm

Caught in a tangle between scientific truth and our own spiritual longing, is a secret life which is undeniable and relentless. We are pleased to present a cross-generational group exhibition, inspired by the 1979 documentary film ‘The Secret Life of Plants’, featuring artists who approach the natural world with an intuitive sense of curiosity and profound inventiveness.

The film, as well as the book on which it is based, revealed unusual phenomena regarding plants, such as perception and feeling, discovered through controversial experimentation. The proposed theories have effectively acted as a stimulus for continued inquiry into materiality, structures of language and time, and the unexpected links between the human anatomy and plants. As these ideas gain momentum they steer towards outrageous results and it is within this wildly imaginative and perhaps hallucinatory state that we find ourselves living the secret life. Here we can be both affectionate as well as methodical while we investigate our connection to other worlds and the multiplicity of the past and the future.

For the opening, Sergei Tcherepnin will perform with his work ‘Garden of Tongues’, 2014.

For more information or images, please contact the gallery at +1-212-463-7372 or info@murrayguy.com.