• Saatchi Gallery commissioned British sculptor Catriona Robertson for their third annual & most ambitious garden to date, supported by HSBC
• Visitors are invited to explore the newly commissioned, giant worm-like sculptures, created using re-claimed materials, aimed to emphasise the importance of ecological growth without the interruption of human activity
• Installation at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 (23-27 May) at stand number RWH250
LONDON, UK (22 May 2023) – Saatchi Gallery reveals an immersive RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden, with special new commissions by British sculptor Catriona Robertson.
Visitors are invited to discover three giant, worm-like sculptures, ‘Gigantic Pile’ created using recycled newspaper pulp and reclaimed metal scraps collected across local London sites. The reclaimed urban material emerges from mounds of earth.
The garden explores the relationship between nature and man-made materials and the resilience of wilderness.
Robertsons’ intricate process highlights how easy it is for city dwellers to become disconnected from nature, living in synthetic environments and confined spaces that separate humans and nature.
Robertson, a recent graduate from the Royal College of Art and runner-up winner of the annual Robert Walters UK New Artist of the Year Award, is a current residence at the Royal Society of Sculpture. Her work responds to the interconnectedness of nature and the city as a landscape resulting in sculptures that embody an architectural imprint.
The garden is a space designed to encourage reconnection with nature, allowing visitors to be physically close to the sculptures through the corrugated pathway.
The garden is designed in collaboration with Dave Green Gardens, an RHS Gold award-winning garden designer. With over ten years of experience working with the RHS, Green specialises in creating beautifully tranquil escapes with an exceptional eye for detail.
Catriona Robertson reflects on the process behind the pieces, “A quote that often inspires my creative thinking is by artist Manny Farber, “A peculiar fact about termite-tapeworm-fungus-moss art is that it goes always forward, eating its own boundaries, and, likely as not, leaves nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity.” Much of our landscape ecology has been altered over time by human activity but wildness lingers, waiting to reclaim human-made landscapes. I hope this garden inspires visitors to embrace the chaos of nature to create an integrated and thriving future ecology, opening up the space to allow for a rewilding of the city.”
Saatchi Gallery’s Director Paul Foster says, “We are very excited to be going into our third year in partnership with the RHS, and present an incredible new artist, Catriona Robertson to Chelsea Flower Show visitors. The garden is a perfect melting pot of horticulture, art whilst highlighting important environmental issues.”
The installation will be on view at stand number RWH250, located on the major show thoroughfare Royal Hospital Way.
– ENDS –
KEY DATES AND OPENING HOURS
RHS Chelsea Flower Show: 23 – 27 May 2023
Press Preview: 22nd May, 7am – 3pm.
For press access, please contact eleanor@saatchigallery.com I ukmailto:pressoffice@rhs.org.uk
IMAGES
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ABOUT CATRIONA ROBERTSON
Catriona Robertson is a multimedia visual artist whose work is primarily concerned with materiality demonstrated by her use of recycled and discarded materials. Her sculpture and installation work explores architecture and the afterlife of materials, considering waste, its reclamation, recycling, and degradation. www.catrionarobertson.co.uk
About HSBC UK
HSBC UK serves over 14.75 million customers across the UK, supported by 24,000 colleagues. HSBC UK offers a complete range of retail banking and wealth management to personal and private banking customers, as well as commercial banking for small to medium businesses and large corporates.
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 62 countries and territories. With assets of $2,990bn at 31 March 2023, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. www.hsbc.co.uk
ABOUT DAVE GREEN GARDENS
Dave Green Gardens is a gold medal-winning garden and landscape design practise based in the Midlands. The practise focuses on working to create calm, tranquil and beautiful escapes for discerning in-dividuals with exceptional attention to detail and quality throughout.www.davegreen.co.uk
Instagram: @davegreen00
Twitter: @davegreen00
Facebook: @davegreengardens
With thanks to our garden supplies: Trees: @majestictrees1 I Mulch/compost: @dalefootcomposts
Wildflower turf: @lindumturf I Lights: @landscapeplus_uk
ABOUT ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY (RHS)
The Royal Horticultural Society, the world’s leading gardening charity, was founded in 1804 by Sir Joseph Banks and John Wedgwood. Our vision is to enrich everyone’s life through plants and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. This aspiration underpins all that we do, from inspirational gardens and shows, through our scientific research, to our education and community programmes such as Campaign for School Gardening and Britain in Bloom. We produce key publications, hold a world-class collection of horticultural books and botanical art, and sell the very best plants and gardening gifts.
The RHS is fundraising £40m to transform our gardens, outreach, and education facilities, which includes redeveloping our flagship RHS Garden Wisley and opening a new garden, RHS Garden Bridgewater, in 2022. We are solely funded by our members, visitors and supporters. For more information visit:www.rhs.org.uk
ABOUT SAATCHI GALLERY
Since 1985, Saatchi Gallery has provided an innovative platform for contemporary art. Exhibitions have presented works by largely unseen young artists, or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK. This approach has made the Gallery one of the most recognised names in contemporary art. Since moving to its current 70,000 square feet space in the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London, the Gallery has welcomed over 10 million visitors. The Gallery hosts over 5,000 school visits annually and has over 6 million followers on social media. In 2019 Saatchi Gallery became a charity, beginning a new chapter in its history.www.saatchigallery.com
Saatchi Gallery Registered Charity No. 1182328
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY