Kristyna and Marek Milde: The Call of the Forest

The Call of the Forest
Kristyna and Marek Milde  

25/4 2025—31/8 2025
Gallery 3

Curators: Theo Carnegy-Tan, Kristyna and Marek Milde

Czech-American artist duo Kristyna and Marek Milde have long explored the language of the everyday to address the complex relationship between humans and the environment. The Call of the Forest presents a dynamic selection of new, ongoing, and earlier works that examine the dichotomies of nature and culture, highlighting a unique artistic approach that they have developed over more than a decade of work. 

For this exhibition, Kristyna and Marek Milde focus on the idea that forests and cities are intertwined living entities. Their works use the motif of the tree to represent not only endurance and growth but also the symbolic connection between trees and humans, thus turning the forest into much more than just a physical space. 

Kristyna and Marek Milde’s exploration of the theme spans a diverse range of media, including sculpture, installation, animation, and collage. Among the new works presented are Arbomobile (2025) and The Call of the Forest (2025), both created for Kunsthalle Praha. In Arbomobile a New York taxi has been transformed into a living sculpture filled with trees that are native to North America and were later introduced to Europe. The Call of the Forest is an immersive animation created from tree tattoos collected through an open call, illustrating humankind’s deep-rooted longing to connect with nature. 

Their ongoing site-specific installation In-Tree-Net blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors by using trees to mimic engineering systems, such as pipes and cables, that deliver vital resources to buildings. By bringing nature inside, the artists reveal a link between the urban and natural environment that is often obscured.  

In each work, the artists transfigure mundane objects and engage directly with materials rather than simply representing them. Through this fusion of poetry and realism The Call of the Forest invites audiences to ask fundamental questions about the natural systems that we depend on but usually take for granted. 

This exhibition is part of the Kunsthalle Praha Invites series, which supports Czech artists in developing new, research-based projects. 

PROGRAM

In-Tree-Net, 2023, installation view from the solo exhibition Conductive Fields, HESSE FLATOW gallery, New York
ironwood, plumbing fittings

Photo credit: Jenny Gorman
Courtesy of the artists