Nature is fascinating: people are deeply impressed by its sublime beauty and its phenomena. It is a source of inspiration, strength and relaxation, yet at the same time we attempt to seize control of it. The ‘civilising process’ has been ongoing ever since people first populated the planet. Our attempts to dominate, define, modify or annex our environment poses a threat to the balance of nature, whether through architectural interventions, global travel, extracting valuable resources, or importing plants and animals from far-away regions.

Politics, science and the economy must rise to meet this challenge. Contemporary artists are also beginning to address the subject, because art functions as a barometer of the human condition – a reflection of society that is expressed through art in the most diverse ways.

Several of the artists represented in the Julius Baer Art Collection examine the topic of nature and civilisation: Jean-Frédéric Schnyder interprets abstracted landscapes and sunsets on plywood while referencing painting styles and epochs from the past. In contrast, Balthasar Burkhard’s photos of animals or landscapes show that photography is very much on a par with painting as a genre. Video and photography pioneer Silvie Defraoui politicises the relationship between nature and civilisation by superimposing photographs of a colourful flower arrangement over smoking factory chimneys, while Miriam Cahn reflects on existential messages in her vibrant depictions of nature. Artists such as Vanessa Billy and Chloé Delarue use material or technical processes of transformation and the interaction between natural and synthetic materials to call attention to the relative positions of humans, machines and technology. Uriel Orlow visualises human intervention in botany from a colonial perspective, while Julian Charrière demonstrates how human action leads to continual changes in nature.