Rob Kesseler

STUDY

24 May - 28 June

Thursday, Friday 11 - 5, Saturday 11 - 4

and by appointment

STUDY is a new exhibition conceived by the artist for Ken artspace as an opportunity to share both his passion for and his study of the plant world. His practice is focussed upon an extensive observation of the living world and in particular plants. Reflecting the many historical forms of botanical representation, his studies range in practice and expression from intuitive ink drawings to videos and to complex micrographs of highly magnified plant specimens captured on high power microscopes and reconfigured, working through multiple chromatic layers to reveal unimaginable complex forms invisible to the naked eye.

A study is a reflective working space, and as the title of the exhibition suggests, study is both an activity and a location and so the artist will be present studying and working in the space throughout the exhibition, surrounded by his botanical library, collection of publications and herbarium specimens.

An illustrated 16 page booklet with an essay by the artist has been produced to accompany the exhibition.

Download booklet

Press release

Heracleum mantegazzianum, giant hogweed, seed. Hand coloured micrograph 100 x 100 cms 2024

About the artist:

Rob Kesseler is a visual artist and Emeritus Professor of Arts, Design & Science at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. For the past twenty five years he has worked extensively with botanical scientists and molecular biologists around the world to explore the living world at a microscopic level.

Collaborators include The Jodrell Laboratory Kew, The John Innes Centre Norwich, MRC Cambridge and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Germany. He works from studios in London and Corfu and exhibits and lectures internationally. Publications include an award-winning series of books on Pollen, Seeds and Fruit with Dr. Madeline Harley and Dr. Wolfgang Stuppy of Kew, published by Papadakis, solo exhibitions in North America, Chile and Europe. Recent exhibitions in Greece include a solo show at the Pinakotheke Corfu, The Silent Language of Plants at the Hellenic American Union, Athens, and the Primarolia Festival in Aigio.

His work has been featured in BBC news features and television series. In 2010 Kesseler was Year of Biodiversity Fellow at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal. Winner of the RMS Scientific Imaging Competition, Electron Microscopy – Life Sciences 2014. 1^st Prize, Botanic Garden Rome for images of seeds resilient to climate change by the Arts & Science Synergy Foundation, 2022. His work has recently been featured on the front cover of leading scientific journals including Science Nature, Science Genetics, and American Science. Rob Kesseler is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and Ambassador for Royal Microscopical Society.

Artist website

Ken artspace is a small new art space in the heart of Kennington.

Run by artists and founders Rob Kesseler and Agalis Manessi is

dedicated to a mix of occasional exhibitions, window installations

and pop-up events.

ken artspace

Rob Kesseler

ARCHIVE

Contact Us