portia munson’s the garden is a room filled with over 1,500 objects at art basel miami

for the 18th edition of art basel miami beach, the fair launched meridians — a new sector dedicated to monumental artworks curated by mexico-based magalí arrolla. the initiative, which aims to push the limits of what can traditionally be shown at an art fair, presented the garden, an installation by american artist portia munson. working on a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, photography and installation, munson creates works that evaluate contemporary society, our environment, and the objects we choose to surround ourselves with, viewed through the lens of feminism.

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first presented in 1996, the garden by portia munson is a lush, densely packed installation in the form of a feminine bedroom that appears to have been overtaken by an exuberant and uncontrolled garden-related objects and imagery. from top to bottom, and from left and right, the space is covered in a quilt of flowered dresses that covers the ceilings and the walls, creating a canopy for the garden emerging beneath. the installation at once bursts with life and beauty, suggestive of fertility, sexuality, and rebirth, and at the same time is suffocating, dark and funeral, as it contrasts the vibrancy of life with the artificial nature of the materials.

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‘by 1996 I had become increasingly interested in environmental issues, seeing the ‘pink projects’ as not only commenting on gender marketing but also the waste that accompanies consumption,’ comments portia munson. ‘my next piece, ‘the garden’, is an artificial garden one can enter, a room densely packed and layered with recycled manufactured items (mainly gathered from free thrift shops at new england dumps and transfer stations) representing/depicting flowers and creatures found in gardens and associated with women.’

comprised of more than 1,500 objects that range from stuffed animals to plastic flowers to wall clocks, the garden centers on ideas of artificial beauty, consumerism and cultural ideas around the feminine aspects of nature.

image © designboom