The Garden of Earthly Delights

Juan Ortiz-Apuy

Co-curated with Toby Lawrence as a part of Open Space’s 2021 programming

The Garden of Earthly Delights is the first exhibition of works by Montreal-based artist Juan Ortiz-Apuy on the west coast. Using video, light, sculpture, and living gardens, his works create a rhizomatic exploration of commodity fetishism, exploitation, and the tensions between the natural and artificial. Born in Costa Rica, Ortiz-Apuy’s brightly coloured, plasticized aesthetics are influenced by the commodification of the tropical rainforest he grew up so close to. In our current context of globalization and environmental precarity, The Garden of Earthly Delights immerses its viewer into an uncanny space of unboxing videos and animated household objects, while asking how we might create a more sustainable future.