by Alex Wells
A recent group exhibition by The Future Perfect, held at the Goldwyn house (yes, that Goldwyn) an up-above-Franklin Hollywood mansion (because of course) hosted a mixture of painting and sculpture alongside placed and lit potted plants and bonsai presented as art.
Why is this interesting? Well we all know beautiful plants can be expensive, with hand-trimmed and tied bonsai trees sometimes fetching 6 digits (the most expensive one sold for 1.3 million). It makes sense then to combine luxury items with other luxury items and present them equally in a luxurious environment – or at least it makes sense for whoever thought up The Future Perfect.
In this endeavor, The Future Perfect tapped Plant Daddies, purveyors of what they call “cult botanica” listing the appreciation of the botanical form as art. The specific “pieces” mixed Japanese minimalism with Los Angeles desert vibes: large potted specimens sitting within white pebbles and rocks in white-distressed, open-mouthed bowls.
Next to them were white-painted terracotta ceramic works by Myung Jin Kim which resemble large undulating intestinal tropical trees.
Are they right about this curatorial strategy? Seeing the hundreds of people in attendance you might be tempted to say “Yes”–but I suspect that it was less about the art and more about getting to see the inside of the mansion, with the objects–both living and inert–playing a supporting role. The show highlights that what’s truly impressive is when some bespoke-built (or grown) piece of luxury manages to survive and be interesting outside the opulence for which it is destined.
Image: Staff