Expressionist Eden

When I first saw the new community created by @coolmidwestguy, the Museum Community, I knew I would be a guest who would visit it from time to time. Either as an observer of an exhibition or as an exhibitor. In our case as Hive users, we are in a way also exhibitors when we post, and our museum is the corresponding community.

I have a bit of material for this community. Many visits to museums from different places are saved in the memory of my phone, and I will slowly try to bring them here. Some were made back in 2023 and 2024, for example in Krakow (Poland) or Zaragoza (Spain). I don't know why I haven't shared them with you until now... probably because I was too lazy to research the exhibitions in question, because I procrastinated, because I waited for the right moment and place. If these visits to exhibitions ever reach Hive, it will be like a return to the past and a reminiscence because... time has already passed.

But today, for my first participation in this newly formed community, I have decided to present to you an exhibition that is still active and can be visited in person until January 26th. The venue is located in the Botanical Garden of the city of Malaga.

This is one part of the Casa del Administrador (Administrator's House) which is converted into an exhibition hall. We were walking in the Botanical Garden and followed the signs and the map. The building labeled number 19 on the map was this house and my husband and I entered. There was also another, different exhibition on the other side of the house, but I didn't take photos of that. My husband says that I always steal everything from him 😂 so that's why I skipped taking photos of that cool exhibition. I hope he brings it here to this community one day. 😉

This poster framed in glass was hanging on the wall (that is the reason why we see the reflection of the other side of the building), giving us the first info about the exhibition. Name of the artist: Siobhan Riordan; name of the exhibition: Edén Expresionista; organizer: Association of Friends of the Botanical Garden, and curated by Agustín Linares Pedrero. Dates: It can be seen between December 20 and January 26, 2025.

Let's enter now a universe where nature becomes art, compositions dressed in vibrant and melancholic colours and marked by the energy of this artist's stroke.

The first wall was illuminated very well and the paintings got the spotlight in a way you can't miss them. One can easily fall in love with them, with simple flowers in a vase. Well, not just simple flowers as they were named Expressive Flowers.

The flowers here burst with freshness and we could almost smell their scent. However I immediately spotted the tiny detail on the vase, the black lines and loved them even more than the flowers.

The exhibition hall was not too big. It had just two rooms and if you notice the main protagonists were plants and flowers. Just the perfect place for such an exhibition - in the middle of a botanical garden. In Eden.

Is there beauty in decay, in fragility?

Of course there is... It may be an almost poetic connection with our human side, with our lives that, like gardens, grow and flourish, and then decay and die. But this happens in cycles, both personally and generally.

As I mentioned, it was a small place but wherever you looked you would see nature. A feeling of being in a jungle was also present. Fresh green leaves, or in neon nuances, it doesn't matter. The huge leaves of the plants can shelter you from the noise and the crowd.

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The painting on the right (below) reminds me where we are... in Malaga, in the garden from where you can observe the city. The Viewpoint is hidden among the tall cypresses; it makes it an excellent spot to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city, but protected by the purity of plant life.

Is it something similar that this artist Siobhan Riordan wanted to achieve with her paintings? I don't know, it is just my own perception but you can feel it in a different way maybe. In any way, I hope you liked this little tour through the exhibition hall of the Botanical Garden, or if you are close to that place, you can still visit it in person until the 26 of January.