Relics of Today’s World Feed an Uncanny Future in Max Hooper Schneider’s ‘Carnival of Gestation’
“Like Father Like Son 5” (2023), antique microscope, borax crystals, glass bell jar, 24.8 x 24.8 × 38.1 centimeters. Photo by Keith Lubow. All images © Max Hooper Schneider, courtesy UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, shared with permission
Within a fictional world where organisms adapt to strange circumstances and highly processed foods form the foundation for new life, Max Hooper Schneider’s uncanny sculptures (previously) address ever-evolving ecosystems. He explores relationships between comfort and uneasiness, growth and decay, the natural and synthetic, and toxicity and nourishment through a concept he calls the “Trans-Habitat.” Within this world, he illuminates an eerie, alternative future where living beings and human-made objects have melded through a continuous cycle of destruction, transformation, and re-creation.
Hooper Schneider’s first institutional solo show in China, Carnival of Gestation, opened last month at UCCA Dune in Beidaihe. Throughout the museum’s distinctively curving, organic architecture, the artist has suspended pill-like vitrines filled with plant specimens, encased crystallized microscopes inside glass domes, and installed luminous dioramas that cast plants in artificial light and vivid colors.
The exhibition features nearly 30 sculptures made during the past decade, including six new large-scale pieces commissioned by UCCA. Challenging an anthropocentric perspective of both the world and the act of making art, the artist merges seemingly conflicting species, objects, and ways of being in the world in an exhibition that is part wunderkammer and part parallel universe.
Hooper Schneider invites visitors into environments and ecosystems devoid of people yet inextricable from human influence. In “Like Father Like Son,” for example, microscopes encrusted in minerals are housed like artifacts of a bygone era, and in “Master’s Temple,” hanging vessels containing plants suggest a way of life for organisms may no longer be able to survive otherwise.
Carnival of Gestation continues through October 13. Explore more on the artist’s Instagram.
“Kindschaft Portal: Fossil and Midnight Desert” (2022), custom fluorescent vitrine, vintage neon glass assemblage, mixed media, 35.6 x 22.9 x 30.5 centimeters. Photo by Sun Shi
“Forensic Blossom (Chicken Nuggets)” (2024), glass aquarium, UV borosilicate mushrooms, crushed uranium glass substrate, preserved snack foods and household items, silicone, epoxy resin, 20 x 20 x 20 centimeter. Photo by Sun Shi
“Like Father Like Son 2” (2023), antique microscope, borax crystals, glass bell jar, 25.4 x 25.4 x 38.1 centimeters. Photo by Keith Lubow
“Destiny” (2023), mixed media landform, condoms, miniature bottles, epoxy resin, silicone, mica powder, colored acrylic reservoir, 103.5 x 84.5 x 43.2 centimeters. Photo by Sun Shi
“Forensic Blossom (Cereal)” (2024), glass aquarium, UV borosilicate mushrooms, crushed uranium glass substrate, preserved snack foods and household items, silicone, epoxy resin, 20 x 20 x 20 centimeters. Photo by Sun Shi
Installation view of ‘Max Hooper Schneider: Carnival of Gestation’ at UCCA Dune. Photo by Sun Shi
Detail of “Master’s Temple” (2024), glass, aquatic ecosystem, live shrimp, metal hook, 10 x 10 x 30 centimeters each. Photo by Sun Shi
“Like Father Like Son 1” (2023), antique microscope, borax crystals, glass bell jar, 20.3 x 20.3 x 30.5 centimeters. Photo by Keith Lubow
“Dendrite Bonsai (Fern and Palm)” (2024), copper electroplated fruits, vegetables, and shrub assemblage, 50 x 70 x 95 centimeters. Photo by Sun Shi
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