A compendium of imagined flora and fauna, The Secret Lives of Plants features the otherworldly botany of Anna Zemánková (1908 - 1986), the envisioned ceramics of Eugene von Bruenchenhein (1910 - 1983), the channelled foliage of Madge Gill (1882 - 1961) and others.

The project derives its title from Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird’s 1973 publication, The Secret Life of Plants. Presented as A Fascinating Account of the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Relations Between Plants and Man, the book describes notions of plant sentience which at the time were both celebrated and dismissed.

The Secret Lives of Plants invites viewers to experience another organic state, borne from the communion between soil and sky.


Anna Zemánková
Olomouc, Moravia (1908 - 1986)

Anna Zemánková’s post-spiritualist practice remains as private and profound as when it first emerged half a century ago. Over 30 years, the self-taught Czech artist evolved her voluminous abstracted pastels into a delicate threaded vegetation drawn from the regional histories of folkloric making.

The museum-calibre works featured in The Secret Lives of Plants reflect the multiple stages of Zemánková’s artistic output. These include a number of highly reproduced images, alongside pieces formerly selected by curator Massimiliano Gioni.

Zemánková’s work is included in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Philadelphia Museum of Art. Exhibitions include Ostalgia at New Museum, New York (2011), The Encyclopaedic Palace at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013) and The Botanical Mind at Camden Art Centre, London (2021).

Zemánková’s work is currently on display in Foreigners Everywhere at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), curated by Adriano Pedrosa.

For available works, please click here.



Eugene von Bruenchenhein
Wisconsin, US (1910 - 1983)

In mid 20th century America, the multidisciplinary hobbyist Eugene von Bruenchenhein embarked on a lifetime of visionary image and object making. Co-authored with his partner Marie, von Bruenchenhein‘s ever-evolving opus included geometric illustration, organic sculpture, scientific prose, finger painting and vernacular photography.

The Secret Lives of Plants presents an assembly of the artist’s delicate and rarely-seen proto-botanical ceramics. These reflect Von Bruenchenhein's enigmatic relationship with the natural world, where hand-pressed petals and twisted stamens compete for aesthetic survival.

Von Bruenchenhein's artworks can be found in the permanent collections of High Museum, Atlanta, Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC and Museum of Modern Art, New York. Exhibitions include the Lyon Biennale (1997), Alternative Guide to the Universe at Hayward Gallery, London (2013) and The Encyclopaedic Palace at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2013).

For available works, please click here.


Madge Gill
London, UK (1882 - 1961)

Almost forgotten by history, the now legendary Madge Gill was a British medium and healer whose spirit guide - Myrninerest – authored the pale faces, swirling patterns and cryptic dialogue of a vast and enigmatic channel. Gill’s prolific mission included postcards, portraits and vast panoramic calicoes of figurations, inscriptions and contra-symmetries.

For The Secret Lives of Plants the gallery has curated a precise group of floral impressions, presented with Gill’s characteristic monochrome line.

Gill’s work is included in the collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne and Whitworth Museum, Manchester. Exhibitions include Outsiders at Hayward Gallery, London (1979), Parallel Visions at LACMA, Los Angeles (1992) and Brutal Beauty at Barbican, London (2021).

Gill’s largest known work is currently on display in Foreigners Everywhere at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), curated by Adriano Pedrosa.

For available works, please click here.


Anna Hackel (Haskel)
Wolfersdorf, Bohemia (1864 - c1920)

Born into a farming community and unschooled in art, Anna Hackel was in her 50s when she started to illustrate her mystical floral visions. The drawings, intended for healing purposes, were distributed across Europe and led to considerable acclaim within spiritualist circles.

A single work by Anna Hackel is featured in The Secret Lives of Plants.

Hackel’s work is included in the Collection of Mediumistic Art (CoMA), Munich, La Collection Saint-Anne, Paris and the collection of the Olomouc Museum of Art, Olomouc. Exhibitions include La Clé des Champs at Jeu de Paume, Paris (2003), Floral Fantasies at the Wilhelm Hack Museum (2019) and The Botanical Mind at Camden Art Centre, London (2021).

For available works, please click here.


Josef Kotzian (Kocián)

Přívoz, Czechoslovakia (1889 - 1960)

Josef Kotzian was an Ostravian designer and machinist whose precisely-dated drawings formed a monochromatic compendium of an other-worldly botany. The artist adopted the pen-name Solferino and went on to become a figurehead for spiritualist art of the region and a lasting influence on subsequent mediumistic artmakers.

A single work by Josef Kotzian is featured in The Secret Lives of Plants.

Kotzian's artworks can be found in the permanent collections of Centre Pompidou, Paris, Olomouc Museum of Art, Olomouc and Museum of Modern Art, Lille. Exhibitions include Floral Fantasies at Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen (2019), The Medium’s Medium at The Gallery of Everything, London (2019) and The Botanical Mind at Camden Art Centre, London (2021).