“Poem of the Earth: From Ego to Eco An intergenerational exhibition of Ecopoetic Art” Exhibition

Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs

poster for “Poem of the Earth: From Ego to Eco An intergenerational exhibition of Ecopoetic Art” Exhibition
Steven Siegel, Tiles (Detail), 1995

This event has ended.

Curated by Nadine Braquetti

Bring your unwanted small electronics for responsible recycling! (Details below.)


The exhibition presents a series of work by Furen Dai, Lena Miskulin, Steven Siegel, Alan Sonfist, and Erin Turner, offering an intergenerational dialogue between early and recent works and perspectives.

The exhibition Poem of the Earth investigates the themes of time and cycle, and of human and nature. It aspires to pause visitors in their dailyrush and ground them in the present, at least for a fleeting moment, to appreciate a deeper connection with the natural world. The title comes from the poem The Voice of the Rain, taken from Walt Whitman’s anthology Leaves of Grass (1891-92). In it, the rain describes itself as the Poém of Earth and illustrates its cyclical nature-how it rises as vapor out of the land and sea, and up to the sky, where it changes form and becomes cloud, before returning to the earth as rain again, to revive the soil, and give life to seeds:

The Voice of the Rain
And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poém of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely formed, altogether
changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the drouths, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn,
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
and make pure and beautify it:
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering,
Recked or unrecked, duly with love returns.)
Walt Whitman

Referring to the rhythmic and harmonious cycles of water, nature, and life in general, Whitman’s poem also expresses the interconnection between all elements on Earth.
So, too, do the artworks of the present exhibition embrace an ecocentric approach and explore the notion of cyclicality. Such works are termed “ecopoetic”-derived from the Greek oikos (meaning the home and referring to the Earth) and poiesis (used to describe the activity of the maker, the poet, the artist). Ecopoetic art explores how artists can help cultivate a sense of dwelling on the Earth and a connection with nature. The name also implies the idea of recurring rhythm, as in poetry, and by extension, the
concept of a cycle. The works on view call for a rejection of the traditional human-centered perspective, which has contributed to the damage inflicted on the planet.
Instead, they encourage us to reconsider our relationships with other species, and to contemplate the natural world with a deepened receptiveness in order to engender more sustainable attitudes.

Embracing the ideas of sustainability in selecting artists and artworks, preference was given to local artists, reducing the carbon footprint of shipping and travel, and to works made predominantly of low environmental impact materials. The exhibition brochure will be printed on recycled paper and throughout the exhibition, recycling boxes will provide visitors a place to easily drop off small e-waste to recycle. Finally, at the end of the show, a portion of the carbon footprint of the exhibition will be balanced by a contribution to carbon offset projects through Gold Standard.


Nadine Braquetti is an independent curator jointly based in New York and Monaco. She holds an MA in Contemporary Art from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art and a Master’s degree in Business Administration with specialization in International Marketing. She has lived and participated in a variety of projects, exhibitions, and events in Europe and the United States.
As a curator, she is drawn to multidisciplinary art exhibitions that enable sensory experiences and emotional responses, while exploring thoughtprovoking questions. Her research themes include human and nature, adversity and resilience, identity and memory, and her curatorial projects feature ecopoetic art, ephemeral art, and floral art, among others. Fascinated by the creative process, she particularly enjoys cooperating with artists on site-specific installation projects, and is inspired by the idea that arts can contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Nadine is also the Program Manager for KODA, a nonprofit arts organization based in New York that facilitates solo exhibitions of contemporary art and creative residencies for mid-career artists through collaboration with socially engaged partners. She also works as a Content Marketing Consultant to help artists, art businesses, and cultural institutions with optimized web content to increase brand awareness, build reputation, and strengthen engagement.
She previously interned at the public arts nonprofit Creative Time and in the Fine Art Program and Collection at the medical center Montefiore
Einstein. She has also volunteered through the Online Volunteering service of the United Nations Volunteers program on several occasions, to support organizations located in Africa.

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Schedule

from January 26, 2020 to April 05, 2020

Opening Reception on 2020-01-26 from 14:00 to 17:00

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