Second Nature: Ecosystems of Resilience

Description

In an era of ecological fragility and rapid transformation, Villepin’s Second Nature reveals how Hiroshi Nagai, Youjin Yi and Kenix Liang construct intimate yet expansive universes. The three artists navigate environmental uncertainty, technological acceleration and social instability by crafting second natures — ecosystems where perception becomes survival. Shifting scales and dissolving boundaries between inner and outer worlds, their works challenge what feels truly natural, turning nature into networks of biological, psychological and spiritual systems.

Nagai paints radiant skies and tranquil coastlines, capturing the elusive sensation of summer. Yi’s intuitive paintings form a library of the heart, with nature motifs like animals and water rendered as emotional presences blending self and environment. Liang magnifies overlooked organisms — such as plants and insects — into monumental forms, proposing coexistence over domination and revealing hidden ecological complexities.

Born in 1947, Nagai defined 1980s City Pop aesthetics with dreamy realism and was inspired by prominent artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Bechtle and René Magritte. New York-based Liang, meanwhile, works in painting and ceramics to explore nature-human dialogues amid climate challenges. Yi, who has been based in Munich since 2011, fuses Eastern philosophy with Western abstraction and psychological expression, draws from the German city’s intellectual energy and natural surroundings like the Botanical Garden to create her works.