The unique artwork of Catalan designer Gerard Moliné will be on display simultaneously at two Barcelona venues: the Arts Santa Mònica Museum and the Art & Design Barcelona Gallery. Moliné, who has already exhibited in cities such as Tokyo, London, Brussels, Milan, Lisbon and Copenhagen, will show 14 works whose epicentre lies in the inner logic of Nature.

May a block of salt licked by a cow be regarded as art? Or a piece executed by 100 bees whose hive has been replaced by a mould? Can we tempt death with grass planted in a flower pot? What effect is produced when during migration swallows stain a canvas considered a work of art? 

The renowned product designer Gerard Moliné presents the results of his artistic experimentation for the first time in Barcelona, at an exhibition entitled Naturalment. Thinking Nature. The central concept governing the exhibition is to show how deliberate use of natural processes may result in genuinely creative artworks. 

Abandoning several pieces of alabaster in a river and checking their state years later; allowing swallows to stain a canvas during their migration process; or letting a cow create a sculpture are a few of the experiments that Moliné allows Nature to conduct. The inner logic of Nature therefore becomes the theme of his works, the passage of time endows them with meaning and questioning the concept of death, as we understand it, is intuitively perceived as their raison d’être. 

On Wednesday, June 22, the exhibition Naturalment. Thinking Nature will be opened at the Art & Design Barcelona Gallery. Of the 14 works that until July 16 will constitute this first exhibition by Gerard Moliné, none has a clearly defined beginning or end. The passage of time forms part of what is displayed. Moliné hands over his artist’s role to Nature, since it is Nature that brings the work into being; he merely contributes intention. By showing his pieces, Moliné restricts himself to taking a snapshot of this moment. 

For Gerard, the concept of death does not exist in Nature: everything is transformed. On the other hand, we humans are aware of our materiality, hence our fear of ceasing to exist. As fruit of this hypothesis, between July 13 and September 16 the installation Naturalment will be placed in the public space in front of the Arts Santa Mònica Museum. A set of flower pots, some containing intelligence (seeds) and others not, will follow their natural course and, as a kind of great green mosaic, reveal a human being merged with Nature. Nature itself will convey a message that will imbue more than one observer with apprehension. 

About the artist: 

Gerard Moliné Navarro (La Seu d’Urgell, Lleida, 1977), who graduated in industrial design from the Escuela Superior de Diseño Elisava, currently works as a designer at Estudimoliné. He was co-founder with Martín Ruiz de Azúa of the Azuamoliné studio and has worked as open-university teacher for the GSD at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. As a designer he collaborates with several firms and institutions and engages in experimental design, the results of which have been both exhibited and published. Among other awards he has received the ADI FAD 2002 medal, the Premio Expohogar Regalo 2005, the Top Nominated INDEX 2005, the Expohogar Regalo 2006 and the DELTA PLATA 07. His works have been exhibited in Tokyo, London, Brussels, Milan, The Hague, Lisbon, Copenhagen and elsewhere. 

AGENDA – NATURALMENT EXHIBITION BY GERARD MOLINÉ 

Title: “Naturalment. Thinking Nature”
Artist: Gerard Moliné
Dates: From Wednesday June 22 to Saturday July 16 2011
Venue: Galería Art & Disseny (Almogàvers 142, Barcelona)
Opening times: Tuesday to Saturday from 16.30 until 20.30h