SEOUL.- Atelier Hermès is presenting Daniel Steegmann Mangrané’s first solo exhibition in South Korea, “Befriending the Mountains”, on view from November 28, 2025 to March 8, 2026. The Barcelona-born artist works with a wide range of media—including drawing, photography, film, sculpture, and installation—with a subtle, poetic sensibility. His practice explores the complex relationship between nature and culture by drawing on biology and contemporary anthropological discourses.

Nature has always been so close to us that it’s impossible to separate it from our life and art, yet the question of how we perceive and engage with nature continues to offer a multitude of answers. Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, who has expressed his lifelong interest in and deep affection for nature through a subtle, poetic visual language, is acclaimed especially for evoking a unique sense of immersion in his exhibitions. His exhibitions are remarkable not only for their aesthetic but also for their contemplative dimensions, as they render the existence of the world.

Steegmann Mangrané perceives nature not as some object or peripheral environment but as a force that constructs ontological and sensory relationships—a perspective formed by his multifaceted life experiences and intellectual encounters. Driven by his love of flora and fauna from a young age, he once dreamed of becoming a biologist. As a visual artist now, he is naturally drawn to contemplating and visualizing nature. Since the mid-2000s he has been living in Brazil, captivated by the natural environment and artistic climate of Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon region, as well as the intellectual foundation of a new anthropology grounded in Indigenous thought. This is why he is often referred to as a Catalan-Brazilian artist despite his European origin.

Fascinated by the Amazon rainforest and the Mata Atlântica, Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, the artist has long explored forests. In particular, he has been deeply inspired by the fact that forest ecosystems—which are endangered due to soil nutrients, light, and water shortages—maintain the world’s highest biodiversity through the complex interdependence of all species. This interconnectedness and interdependence have led him to understand forests not simply as places, but as living creatures that embody the world’s environmental, political, and cultural complexities.

The notions of interconnectedness and interdependence are inherent in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, which argues that humans are not consciousnesses cut off from the world, but are bodies living within it, “interlaced” with it. As such subjects become participants, not observers, of the world. Also, Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory posits that all beings, human or non-human, are “actors” interacting within interconnected networks. In the forests, Steegmann Mangrané has been able to witness that interconnectedness and interdependence are not mere postmodern concepts but actual occurrences, concrete phenomena, at work.

The exhibition “Befriending the Mountains” invites the viewers into an architectural structure divided by diagonal partitions. The artificially constructed white walls are numb, straight lines, but they are arranged at disjointed angles, impeding the viewer’s perception of the overall space and creating a sense of disorientation. At the entrance, which opens in at least three directions, the visitors may feel a psychological turmoil, like the sensation of entering a forest maze. And this “transfer” from an organized structure into a maze-like forest serves to blur the formal opposition and disconnect between the two. A magical phenomenon occurs here as the diagonal partitions create a forest trail.

Next, the visitor encounters aluminum curtains, one of the artist’s signature series. Commonly found in Mediterranean life, these curtains, with their vibrant colors and pleasant texture, are made from ready-made pieces from Kriskadecor, which allow for easy connection. Steegmann Mangrané layered the curtains in the passageway to create a situation where it’s difficult to tell whether they permit or obstruct passage. When the visitors boldly pass through them, the curtains transform from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, from material to immaterial. The physical contact and the resulting sound bring the boundary between the object and our bodies closer, blurring the distinction them.

While Félix González-Torres’ beaded curtains emphasized physical contact and sensation, Steegmann Mangrané’s curtains, with their uniquely shaped openings, evoke transfer and exploration. It’s a site-specific work, deriving its form from something the artist encountered in South Korea. But the viewers, unable to pinpoint its exact nature, feel transported into a natural realm, thanks to the title, “Befriending the Mountains” (2025). Steegmann Mangrané produces his aluminum curtains sometimes in shades of a lush forest and sometimes in golden sunlight or sunset—the latter has been chosen for this exhibition—, eliciting a vivid sense and awareness of physical contact with nature. It is a moment when the artificial turns natural.

Steegmann Mangrané’s approach to space design has been inspired by Baroque music’s use of ritornello and echo systems. He guides and then distracts the viewer’s gaze, making them curious about what’s on the other side and ultimately allowing them to wander in the labyrinthine exhibition space. Light from thin filaments and rocks struck by lightning appear in every corner, but they are by no means identical. The rocks, moss-covered as if weathered by time, are nicknamed “Mountain,” “Elephant,” “Lion,” and “Dragon” based on their shapes. This work hints at the animistic notion that all beings inhabiting the universe—from animate and inanimate beings to astronomical phenomena and artificial objects—are imbued with spirits.

After navigating the maze, experiencing the indoor space as if it were an irregular forest filled with natural elements, the viewers finally arrive at an open space where they can find a pine garden, which feels like a fleeting shift in time and space. Surrounded by modern buildings, this actual garden unfolds in a deep courtyard resembling a well. Two ancient Korean pine trees stand tall on a hill covered in black volcanic rock, while lightning strikes from the sky above. This unexpected combination creates a surreal landscape, which transcends its inherent beauty and reveals the infiniteness of nature, where there are no bounds between past and present, and no boundaries between urban and cosmic.

“Fish Trying to Kissing the Moon” (2025), a video installed beyond a glass window, shows the full moon cast over Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, historically known for moon viewing. In this poetic video, the moon and a fish meet through the slowly rippling water. In an attempt to capture the constant creation and disappearance of fleeting nature, Steegmann Mangrané continues to document nature using media such as 16mm film, virtual reality, and holograms. The waterscape in “Fish Trying to Kissing the Moon”, together with “Lightning Garden” (2025) installed outside the building, realizes a harmonious universe encompassing earth, water, fire, and wind.

Shifting the question of “What is nature?” to “Who is nature?,” Steegmann Mangrané’s eco-philosophical work faithfully and significantly fulfills the positive roles art can play in and for the world. The artist is fully devoted not only to revealing the poetic and aesthetic aspects of nature through visual art, but also to learning and disseminating the lessons of interconnection and interdependence taught by forests. He believes that this unique age, the Anthropocene, offers a remarkable opportunity for art to exert political influence.