Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Scotland
Posted in Exhibitions on March 12 2014, by Matt Newman
Walking through the Ross Gallery on my way to the office each morning, I like to pause a moment and admire the greenery clothing the walls. There’s no vertical garden on display, per se. Rather, the photography of Allan Pollok-Morris is so verdant as to come close to imitating one. His compositions of Scottish countrysides, estate gardens, and landscape sculpture depict a depth of color and foliage that we seldom see on the left side of the Atlantic, and there’s a grandeur to each image that belies the “humble ruggedness” many default to when discussing Scotland.
Sadly, after months of lovely display here at the Garden, Close: The Photography of Allan Pollok-Morris will be moving on as of this Sunday, March 16.
To give you a refresher of what you’ve been missing out on if you haven’t yet made a stop to see this photo exhibition, I put together a slideshow of some of Allan’s iconic works hanging now in the Ross Gallery. Each photograph depicts the landscapes, sculptures, or gardens of a designer living or working in Scotland—natives and expats alike.
Read More
Posted in Exhibitions on October 7 2013, by Matt Newman
I haven’t traveled to Scotland yet, but in my thoughts it’s a green and airy place, textured with the golems of mountains, cairns, and foggy grasslands. Admittedly that’s a romantic generalization better left to youthful misconceptions. But there’s still something to that old notion when I view the landscapes in Allan Pollok-Morris’ atmospheric photographs, prints of which are now being hung in The New York Botanical Garden‘s Ross Gallery. From what I’ve seen so far, the opening of our visiting Close exhibition should be an escape for any visitor.
Inspired by the outdoor art installations, gardens, and sculpted landscapes that multinational artists have wrought throughout Scotland’s challenging country, Pollok-Morris’ set out over the course of five years to meet these creators and photograph their lasting contributions to the world around them. But the name of the exhibition, “Close,” might warrant a deeper explanation for those without the benefit of a Scottish upbringing.
“No one collective description can be applied to the wide variety of subjects in this group,” Pollok-Morris writes. “Instead, when choosing a name, I opted for a small, unassuming word which, in Scottish dialect, was used to describe a landscape so inspirational that heaven seemed closer to earth in that place. For example, I grew up in MacGregor country, where it is said the most famous member of this clan, Rob Roy MacGregor, was buried in Balquhidder because he had described the glen as ‘close’.”
Read More
Walking through the Ross Gallery on my way to the office each morning, I like to pause a moment and admire the greenery clothing the walls. There’s no vertical garden on display, per se. Rather, the photography of Allan Pollok-Morris is so verdant as to come close to imitating one. His compositions of Scottish countrysides, estate gardens, and landscape sculpture depict a depth of color and foliage that we seldom see on the left side of the Atlantic, and there’s a grandeur to each image that belies the “humble ruggedness” many default to when discussing Scotland.