About

Nature Never Loses surveys six decades of the prescient, genre-defying work of artist Carl Cheng (b. 1942, San Francisco; lives and works in Santa Monica). Having studied both fine art and industrial design, Cheng first developed his art practice in Southern California in the 1960s, amid political unrest, an interdisciplinary art scene, a booming post-war aerospace industry, and rapid development of the landscape. His ever-evolving body of work, incorporating a variety of materials and media, engages with environmental change, the relevance of art institutions to their publics, and the role of technology in society—topics with urgent contemporary relevance. Originally recognized for his photographic sculptures, his inventive lexicon includes “art tools” employed in the production of ephemeral artworks, “nature machines” that anticipate an artificial world shaped by humans, and extra-institutional interventions intended to reach broad audiences.

Image: Carl Cheng, Early Warning System, 1967 - 2024. Fabricated plastics, electronics, projector mechanism, wheat, wooden base, and radio. Collection of San Francisco Museum of Art. Purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams. Photograph by Jeff McLane.