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4 Mar 2019

Plants with Bite captured on canvas

The ever changing display at The Calyx, Plants with Bite now has a one of a kind exhibition in collaboration with 21 talented artists from The Illustration Room. The blood-thirsty carnivorous plants are the inspiration of a series of vintage comic and film themed posters.

Using a range of techniques, each illustrator was given the artistic license to tell the wild and wonderful story of lobster pots, bladders, flypapers and more fascinating, bug-munching plants. Below is only a small selection of the dazzling display of talent, but the free exhibition is on until 24 April coinciding with Garden Art Month.

Savage Jungle Mountain Cat 

Using a hero character from the universe Cat Island, Paul Brocher's comic book cover tells the story of kittens being attacked by Drosophyllum. The more the kittens struggle, the savage jungles long tentacles coil and trap them, so Mountain Cat must swoop in for the rescue. 

SAVAGE JUNGLE MOUNTAIN CAT by PAUL BORCHERS
Paul Brocher's Savege Jungle Mountain Cat is on display at The Calyx until 24 April.

The Takeover 

An avid plant collector himself, James Boast brings the tropical jungle to the CBD where no one is safe from the blood-thirsty plants.

They started growing at The Calyx and didn’t stop. The Takeover has begun. They’ve grown to gargantuan sizes. Instead of eating flies, these oversized exotic plants are devouring Sydney, eating people, cars, buildings.

tHE TAKEOVER by JAMES BOAST
Tha Takeover by James Boast. 

Beauty, not beast

A not-so-scary interpretation of Plants with Bite was created by Clementine Blule, a friendly super-hero plant Beast who is a good giant living in a world of disaster. 

The Beast represents the beauty of carnivorous plants and their fascinating sense of survival in very unfriendly environments. 

He is a water god, a sorcerer and a teacher, growing beautiful, carnivorous fly-traps on him, teaching young children how they can survive by eating insects, where to find water and how to take care of the planet.

BEAUTY, NOT BEAST by CLEMENTINE, BLULE
Beauty, not Beast by Clementine Blule

 

We where absolutely honoured to be invited to collaborate in a custom made exhibition with the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. The brief was irresistible for our artists. The opportunity to illustrate your own original story with the staring roles played by character filled carnivorous plants comes with limitless creative opportunities. To then curate an exhibition within glorious space that is The Calyx was magic for us on every level. Thank you from our whole team.
 
Katie Perrott, Director of The Illustration Room

Garden gadzooks

Your favourite illustrations will be available to purchase as a poster or postcard at the Plants with Bite display inside The Calyx until 24 April. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

🌱 Opening today at @rbgsydney and @thecalyxexperience: Plants With Bite - The Calyx, The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney and The Illustration Room Collaborative Exhibition 2019. . . Last year the team behind The Calyx approached The Illustration Room with the idea of creating a collaborative exhibition of original illustrations inspired by vintage comics and films on the theme of carnivorous plants. Each illustrator was given artistic license to tell any wild and wonderful story they could dream up within the fantastical world of Plants with Bite, The magnificent Calyx, The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and the beautiful city it lies within. . . Posters of the Plants with Bite art work and souvenir postcard sets housed in retro tins will be available for purchase at The Calyx Store. Take a look at our stories for a peek at the tins. If you’re in the Sydney area anytime between March 1 and April 30, we highly encourage you to visit the exhibition. Make sure to tag us in your photos so we can share your posts! Artwork by @michaelcrampton79 #TheIllustrationRoom  #artexhibit #sydneyart #royalbotanicgardens #vintagecomics #plantswithbite #illustrationartists #carnivorousplants #botanicalillustration #thecalyx #posterart #illustration_daily #rbgsydney #ilovesydney

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Hear from carnivorous plant expert, Greg Bourke below


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