Please Awake – Asked Nature kindly

(Copyright Text and Images Turner Contemporary Margate, reproduced with kind permission)

First European institutional exhibition of the Dominican artist brings a decade of visionary landscapes to Turner Contemporary

23 May–13 September 2026 - Turner Contemporary Margate

Hulda Guzmán: Please awake – asked Nature kindlyFirst European institutional exhibition of the Dominican artist brings a decade of visionary landscapes to Turner Contemporary

23 May–13 September 2026
Media view: Wednesday 20 May, 11.30am
Turner Contemporary presents the first European institutional exhibition of Dominican artist Hulda Guzmán. Spanning a decade of work and featuring major new paintings, the exhibition introduces new international audiences to Guzmán's distinctive vision of landscape as a site of mysticism, ecology and Caribbean identity.

Drawing on Mexican muralism, Caribbean vernacular traditions and Western art history, Guzmán's paintings open portals into vibrant, dreamlike worlds where the artist, her family, animals and mythical beings exist in close dialogue with nature.
 
Guzmán lives in the rainforest mountains of Samaná in the Dominican Republic and this biodiverse environment profoundly shapes her visual language. Her richly layered compositions of landscapes and interiors echo the lush abundance of her surroundings while engaging with questions of Caribbean identity, belonging and the urgent realities of climate change.
 
Please awake – asked Nature kindly is Guzmán's most extensive solo presentation to date and includes new paintings completed this year. The exhibition traces the evolution of her practice from intimate studio interiors rendered on wooden panels to expansive landscapes. Across these works, Guzmán develops interconnected themes of mysticism and the enduring wonder of the natural world.
 
In Guzmán's paintings, nature emerges as an active force and protagonist subtly challenging Western landscape traditions rooted in romanticism and the picturesque. Her expressive handling of paint and colour conveys a palpable sense of vitality and magic—qualities that, in an age of climate anxiety, remind us to slow down and reflect.
 
As the artist has observed:
'I am interested in exploring mystery as an integral part of our existence. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.'
 
An almost surreal sensibility permeates Guzmán's work, heightened by a vivid, technicolour palette. She often begins her landscapes from direct observation before using Photoshop to digitally assemble and position characters within it. This method allows her to establish the narrative structure of a painting before translating the figures into paint. The resulting works unfold though a fluid, spatial logic in which shifting scales, perspectives, and painterly treatments coexist within a single canvas. These visual instabilities introduce a sense of magical realism, inviting viewers to encounter reality as layered and open to interpretation.
 
Guzmán's practice explores humanity's relationship to the natural world, acknowledging the Caribbean's beauty alongside its environmental vulnerability. This exhibition presents Guzmán as a compelling new voice in contemporary painting, offering nuanced reflections on place and postcolonial experience. Her paintings evoke both wonder and reckoning. They insist we see the natural world not as a backdrop, but as a living force to which we are inextricably bound.
 
Hulda Guzmán said:
'Please awake – asked Nature kindly is an invitation to listen more closely to the underlying presence within the subtle shifts of light and time that shape both landscape and self. Sharing my work at Turner Contemporary feels especially meaningful in Margate where the rhythms of nature remain powerfully present, creating a dialogue between contrasting geographies and reminding us of our shared vulnerability.'
 
Clarrie Wallis, Director of Turner Contemporary, said:
'Hulda Guzmán reimagines landscape at a time when our relationship with the natural world feels increasingly urgent. This exhibition reflects the gallery's commitment to introducing new voices to champion distinctive perspectives in painting.'
 
Curated by Melissa Blanchflower, Senior Curator
 
Hulda Guzmán: Please awake – asked Nature kindly is generously supported by Alexander Berggruen, New York. Additional support from the Hulda Guzmán Exhibition Circle: Chelsea Heuer, and Nora Wessel and Scott Baxter, New York.