Saatchi Gallery presents British artist Anthony James ‘Square Roots’ alongside this year’s RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show

• A Saatchi Gallery presentation of LA-based artist Anthony James, featuring the ‘Birch Tree series’ and ‘Lightfield’, made up of 12 transmorphic colour cubes in a mycorrhizal network.
• An immersive showcase of the interaction between high technology and natural materials.

LONDON, UK, Friday 1 April 2022 – This Spring, Saatchi Gallery presents LA-based and British-born artist Anthony James to be exhibited alongside RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show, running from Saturday, 9th April through to Friday, 29 April 2022.

The Gallery 4 space at Saatchi Gallery will be illuminated by James’ famous Birch Tree series – made up of several variously sized, vertical light boxes containing the barks of birch trees. Through the amalgamation of birch trees, mirrors, glass, metal, and fluorescent LED lights, James presents a sculptural series associated with magical symbolism, resulting in the illusion of an endless birch forest.

Square Roots will also include ‘Lightfield’, an array of twelve interconnected cubic structures. The inside surfaces are lit with LED lights containing two-way mirrors reflecting endless flat surfaces to create an optical illusion encouraging inward and outward reflection.

The exhibition is a response to the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show at the Gallery and takes the birch tree as a point of departure to present an introspective presentation of infinity. The sculptures lead visitors into a meditative and limitless space to reveal the shared containment of nature – manifesting an individual’s journey ‘through the woods.’

Infinite and mesmerising, the twelve cubes featured in the gallery space are connected via ethernet cables and controlled by one computerised ‘brain’ enabling them to mimic the interconnecting root structure of a birch tree forest.

Artist Anthony James adds: “Square Roots is like an infinity room that transports you into another world to create a limitless narrative, and I am delighted to be able to bring this experience to visitors at the Gallery. With the upcoming RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show at Saatchi Gallery, the works on display bring to life on the power of nature and its meditative qualities for individual, and collective, introspection.”

Anthony James (b. 1974) is a multimedia visual artist concerned with the unity of consciousness across nature and the cosmos. Growing up in London during the vibrant 70’s and 80’s directly inspired his continuing search for order and developed his minimalistic and formalist working practice to explore the paradox of life and death through dazzling sculptures.

Anthony James: Square Roots (Gallery 4) will be open to the public from the 9 – 29 April 2022. Admission is free.

Notes to Editors

Dates and Opening Hours

FREE ADMISSION

Open to the public: 9 – 29 April 2022, 10am – 6pm Wednesday – Sunday (last admission 5.30pm)

Press Preview: Friday, 8 April 10AM-1PM

Images

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School Visits & Community Groups

With the generous support of all our patrons, for each major exhibition there are opportunities to engage with creative projects and workshops whether that be in-gallery, virtually, in the classroom or at home. www.saatchigallery.com/learning | education@saatchigallery.com | +44(0)20 7811 3087

Safety Measures

The health and safety of visitors and staff is paramount. Safety measures for visitors can be found on the Saatchi Gallery website: www.saatchigallery.com/visit/covid-19-compliance

About Saatchi Gallery

Since 1985, Saatchi Gallery has provided an innovative platform for contemporary art. Exhibitions have presented works by largely unseen young artists, or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK. This approach has made the Gallery one of the most recognised names in contemporary art. Since moving to its current 70,000 square feet space in the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London, the Gallery has welcomed over 10 million visitors. The Gallery hosts over 5,000 schools visits annually and has over 6 million followers on social media. In 2019 Saatchi Gallery became a charity, beginning a new chapter in its history. www.saatchigallery.com

Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY