The Art of Biodiversity explored in Lewes

Taking part will be Tom Benjamin, Andrew Fitchett, Paul Newland, Kate Montgomery, Heather McAteer, Jason Tremlett, Adele Scantlebury, Sasha Turnbull, Riga Forbes, Joanna Farrow, Rosie Good, Mark Munroe-Preston, Ellie Hipkin, Steve Gallagher, Nichola Campbell, Jane Palmer, John Ball, Rachael Nicholson, Harry Brayne and Dan Johnson in a group exhibition celebrating nature in its many forms.

The Biodiversity Show was conceived by environmental journalist John May working with the Star Brewery Gallery’s owner Neeta Pedersen.

Neeta said: “The varied works by Sussex artists, when shown together, will represent the beauty and diversity of nature expressed through paintings, photographs and sculptures. This exhibition naturally follows on from our two highly successful group shows for Artwave – The Tree Show in 2021 and The River Show in 2022, both of which attracted a substantial and enthusiastic audience of all ages. The term Biodiversity was coined in 1985 by the scientist Edward O’ Wilson. He considered biodiversity to be the most important thing in nature. He said: ‘Biodiversity is the key to the maintenance of the world as we know it’. Biodiversity is perhaps best understood as meaning the variety of all living things on earth and how they fit together in the web of life. Biodiversity is comprised of several levels, starting with genes, then species, then communities and finally entire ecosystems such as forests or coral reefs. This biodiversity is being damaged by human destruction, pollution and climate change. The natural biodiversity of a region relies on the connections between living things. Losing one link in the chain may be catastrophic for many others. The loss of species includes animals, trees, plants, birds, fish, insects, down to fungi and the tiniest organisms. Britain has lost more of its natural biodiversity than almost anywhere else in western Europe, the most of all the G7 nations and more than many other nations such as China. Over two-thirds of the UK is now used for agriculture and eight per cent has been built on, leaving little room for nature. We hope that our show will help build a greater awareness of this issue.”

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