Anna Zemánková 
+
Eugene von Bruenchenhein, Madge Gill, Anna Hackel, Josef Kotzian

The Gallery of Everything presents a compendium of imagined flora and fauna, featuring 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 drawing 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, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and American Folk Art Museum, New York. 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.

-

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 of Art, Atlanta, Smithsonian American Art 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).

-

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 calicos 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 Parallel Visions at LACMA, Los Angeles (1992), Outsiders at Hayward Gallery, London (1979), Floral Fantasies at the Wilhelm Hack Museum (2019), 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.

-

Anna Hackel (Haskel)
Wolfersdorf, Bohemia (1864 - c 1920)

Although born into a farming community, Anna Hackel’s commitment to spiritualist beliefs led her to illustrate many hundreds of imaginary floral designs. Predominantly dated to the 1930s, it is thought that Hackel only commenced her practice while in her 50s. Despite this, her work became widely known and she completed several hundred works by the time of her passing.

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

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

-

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).