Installation view of The Planter Show at Fort Makers, New York. Photography by Joe Kramm.
Untitled stoneware and glaze planter by Joe Sturm with Chinese evergreen (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Didi Rojas' terracotta Had to do it to them paired with a ruby ball cactus (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Glazed ceramic BLOB 001, BLOB 002, and BLOB 003 by BNAG paired with air plants (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Installation view of The Planter Show at Fort Makers, New York. Photography by Joe Kramm.
Ceramic Anchor Companion, Green Companion, Orange Companion, and Pink Companion by Trish Tillman with candelabra cacti (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Jessi Li's glazed clay Thumbs-Up Planter with an alabaster swirl euphoria (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Installation view of The Planter Show at Fort Makers, New York. Photography by Joe Kramm.
Farrah Sit and Joel Seigel's Vayu made from earthenware and oak pictured with an alocasia regal shield (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Hairy Bowl Tripod Planter by Keith Simpson with a monstera adansonii (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Myagmarsuren Brown's stoneware Temple 4 with a pinstripe calathea (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Terracotta Cylinder by Paula Greif with a pencil cactus (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Installation view of The Planter Show at Fort Makers, New York. Photography by Joe Kramm.
Scott Reeder’s Conch Shell Planter with air plant (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Glazed earthenware Boot by Scott Reeder with a euphoria cactus (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Joe Sturm’s untitled stoneware and glaze with Pilea planter (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Bruce Sherman’s glazed ceramic Lady of the Flora with air plants (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Uno+Ichi’s stoneware Niňa Planters B with ficus (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Joanne Greenbaum’s untitled terracotta planter with cacti (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Poly-nylon rope Salvaje (wild, savage, feral, untamed, fierce) by Tamika Rivera paired with air plants (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Noah J. Spencer’s red clay Steps Planter with red congo (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Harry Nuriev's metal and LED screen Crosby Planter (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Noah J. Spencer’s Dish Foot Planter with cacti and succulents (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Terracotta Leg Up by Naomi S. Clark paired with a dracena surculosa (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm. Courtesy of Fort Makers.
Lauren Elder's ceramic The Singing Rose 1 with an anthurium (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Glazed earthenware Clogs by Scott Reeder with air plants (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Uno+Ichi's stoneware Red Glasses (Planter) with a money tree (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Stoneware Planter I by Simone Bodmer-Turner with geranium (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Uno+Ichi’s stoneware Basketball Love with ripple peperomia (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Glazed earthenware Running Shoe by Scott Reeder with an echeveria succulent (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
GREEN ROOM: The Planter Show Organized By Fort Makers Design Studio
Cultivating a sense of vitality and indoor zen in socially-distant times, The Planter Show, presented by design studio Fort Makers at their downtown New York exhibition space, is a celebration of a love for nature. Featuring works by over 40 designers and artists, the exhibition captures the symbiotic relationship between the static vessel and the unpredictable plant.
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Didi Rojas' terracotta Had to do it to them paired with a ruby ball cactus (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Jessi Li's glazed clay Thumbs-Up Planter with an alabaster swirl euphoria (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Terracotta Leg Up by Naomi S. Clark paired with a dracena surculosa (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm. Courtesy of Fort Makers.
Sculpted containers of a variety of media and shapes paired with succulents, ivy, ferns, and palms from Dahing Plants gardening store and nursery fill the gallery, transforming it into an indoor garden. There’s a stoneware planter by Brooklyn-based ceramicist Simone Bodmer-Turner, a series of amorphous purple blobs by Oliver-Selim Boualam and Lukas Marstaller (otherwise known as BNAG), a set of four phallic cactus “companions” as sculptor Trish Tillman refers to them, a vibrant nest of poly-nylon ropes by artist and human rights activist Tamika Rivera, and an illuminated LED-screen planter by architect and furniture designer Harry Nuriev. Each piece, made specifically for the show, demonstrates the human ability to create nondestructive relationships with nature and the healing effects that plants have on our everyday lives.
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Glazed ceramic BLOB 001, BLOB 002, and BLOB 003 by BNAG paired with air plants (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Myagmarsuren Brown's stoneware Temple 4 with a pinstripe calathea (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Stoneware Planter I by Simone Bodmer-Turner with geranium (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Harry Nuriev's metal and LED screen Crosby Planter (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Fort Makers Co-Founder and Creative Director Nana Spears explains that “the exhibition is grounded in the personification of the vessel and the life form it houses as a single entity.” During the long period of in-home isolation, many people have found a new level of companionship with their domestic surroundings, looking to objects and plants as sources of comfort. While some artists subtly suggest a personification of the vessel, such as Naomi S. Clark’s seemingly crawling terracotta Leg Up, others are much more explicit like Jessi Li’s Thumbs-Up Planter and the series of anthropomorphic face planters by Uno+Ichi. Had to do it to them by Didi Rojas and Boot, Running Shoe, and Clogs by Scott Reeder even illustrate what it might be like for a plant to take a walk in its owner’s shoes.
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Hairy Bowl Tripod Planter by Keith Simpson with a monstera adansonii (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Glazed earthenware Boot by Scott Reeder with a euphoria cactus (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Glazed earthenware Running Shoe by Scott Reeder with an echeveria succulent (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
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Glazed earthenware Clogs by Scott Reeder with air plants (2020). Photography by Joe Kramm.
Other pieces such as Terracotta Cylinder by Paula Grief, Temple 4 by Myagmarsuren Brown, and Vayu by Farrah Sit and Joel Seigle encourage an appreciation for nature at its simplest form. While contemplating the untamed future is a daunting endeavor, these works are reminders that our support systems are more deeply rooted than they may appear.
Text by Karina Encarnación.
Photography by Joe Kramm.
Images courtesy of Fort Makers.
