This exhibition features artist Tomasz Kulka's collection of common and meadow plants, transformed into unreal, invented specimens through his artistic vision. The works, presented as paintings on gilded boards and spatial collages under glass, explore the rich biodiversity of flora and its ecological and medicinal properties.
The exhibition "Owoc z drzewa poznania dobra i zła" (Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) by Tomasz Kulka presents a unique collection of plants, both common and meadow varieties, which the artist has combined into unreal, invented forms. These creations are displayed as a cycle of paintings executed in traditional egg tempera on gilded boards, and also as spatial collages enclosed under glass, effectively transforming them into exhibited specimens. Kulka utilizes typically overlooked flora, highlighting the richness of segetal plant life and its crucial role in the ecosystem, including its effects on air temperature, soil moisture, and erosion. Historically, plants and herbs have been vital for healing and influencing human well-being, though poisonous properties could sometimes be uncontrollable.
Through these gathered leaves, stems, and flowers, Tomasz Kulka has constructed mysterious plant hybrids, which can be interpreted as autonomous beings or ecosystems capable of sustaining human communities. The works in this series contribute to a mythology where nature dictates terms, serving as a source of both pleasure and suffering. The displayed objects form an alternative Polish herbal, which, against the backdrop of apothecary artifacts in the Museum of Pharmacy, takes on an unconventional and mysterious character, engaging in a creative dialogue with the museum's collection. The exhibition was a collaboration between Propaganda gallery and the Museum of Pharmacy, a branch of the Museum of Warsaw.
