Six decades of pioneering art: the Bonnefanten Museum is showing the visionary work of Carl Cheng in Nature Never Loses. It is the first retrospective of the artist's work in Europe. The exhibition can be seen in Maastricht from May 10.
How does man interact with nature? The work of artist Carl Cheng (*1942) revolves around the relationship between technology, nature and society. At a time when technical innovations are rapidly influencing everyday life and the global ecosystem, Cheng draws attention to the need for reflection. His poetic works combine art, technology and natural elements and take a critical look at developments in the Anthropocene. With the exhibition Nature Never Loses, the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht offers a major overview of Cheng's work of the last 60 years, which was far ahead of its time. It is the first retrospective of the artist's work in Europe. The exhibition runs from May 10 to September 28.
The Chinese-American artist Carl Cheng, born in San Francisco, now lives and works in Santa Monica. During his graphic design studies at the University of California in Los Angeles, he developed an interest in both technology and environmental issues, which still define his artistic work today. For a short time, Cheng also studied at the Folkwang University in Essen, where he learned about the compatibility of design and fine art in the spirit of the Bauhaus. Cheng is best known for his Erosion Machines (1969-2020), in which natural processes are recreated in a human-controlled environment.
The exhibition Nature Never Loses was previously on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Jones Center in Austin, Texas, and will subsequently be shown at the Museum Tinguely in Basel from December 2025 to May 2026.
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