DÉJEUNER SUR L'HERBE 2025
installation,
photos of endangered flowers
printed on PVC, 448 x 440 cm,
living room table, wood, artificial grass
Shedhalle Zug, 2025
Referencing Manet’s iconic painting, Déjeuner sur l’herbe examines humanity’s fractured relationship with nature in the age of artificiality. The installation replaces pastoral sensuality with ecological critique: extinct plant silhouettes printed on PVC panels surround a table covered in synthetic grass, a simulacrum of the natural world.
Through this poetic inversion, Jacomella Bonola exposes the contradictions of a culture that aestheticizes nature while destroying it. The artificial lawn, an emblem of modern convenience, contrasts sharply with the ghostly presence of vanished species, evoking both nostalgia and loss. Employing irony and visual precision, the work confronts the illusion of sustainability and the commodification of “green” aesthetics. Déjeuner sur l’herbe ultimately proposes a space of reflection on the urgency of re-establishing an authentic dialogue with the living world.
Credits: © Kilian Bannwart