Claudia Comte. After Nature

The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary are presenting an exhibition on the Swiss artist Claudia Comte (born 1983). It brings together a series of sculptures carved with a chainsaw that have been specially commissioned for this event. The artist found the wood from endemic species during her residency at the interdisciplinary and collaborative programme offered by TBA21-Academy and Alligator Head Foundation at their space in Port Antonio (Jamaica). Through her contact with TBA21 Academy —passionate about researching the Oceans— Comte understood corals as complex beings that play a key role in the production of the Earth’s oxygen. Their extinction is having a deep impact on planetary life.

This exhibition hinges on the idea of the possibility of understanding and regenerating corals and is divided into two spaces: day and night, each environment refers to a moment in the investigative process as well as a coming to terms with the Ocean’s life. The day space presents corals made of wood, while the second one evokes the darkness of the depths of the seabed, with a mural painting that, through graphics, shapes, technology and materials, it becomes an immersive installation that encourages reflection and approach to corals.