Julia Schmid

Julia Schmid, Germany

Julia Schmid’s project in Helsinki includes an artistic research on the presence of nature in urban areas. The focus is nature – fauna and flora – and how it is represented in urban and rural environments today. Schmid looks at “city -biotopes” such as boulevards, small gardens, urban beds (accidentally grown or planted by humans) and parks. In addition she analyzes the representation of nature in cultural institutions as museums of natural history, zoos etc. The work will be conceptually focused and realized in different medias – such as painting, drawing, photography, text work.

An ongoing series of drawings concentrate on wolfs and their display in dioramas or show-cases in museums of natural museums throughout Europe (Madrid, Helsinki, Prag, Hannover etc.). As a cliché-burdened animal wolfs stand for the topic of anti-human wilderness and were always interpreted as biests. By looking at their extraordinary social intelligence the wolfs are nowadays rediscovered and feared as they are allowed to re-emigrate in former habitats.

Julia Schmid has an exhibition HELSINKIMADRID at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany, 15.11.- 3.2.2012. On view will also be works that were made during her residency at HIAP