This Sunday, at 4pm Italian time, I will contribute (remotely) to the ambitious and very timely panel 'Thinking hands constructing our collective response to the climate crisis' moderated by Nicolas Panelli at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. #architecturevenicebiennale #climate #art

How nasturtium always glows like amber during sunset... #septembergarden #nasturtium #sunset #orange #flowers #garden

Strangers at Home: Plant-Human Migrations A conversation with Yota Batsaki and Giovanni Aloi Thursday, September 18, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 pm Central US Time We think of plants as rooted to the spot, but they travel constantly through their adaptations or the actions of humans.

It’s always special to encounter one of your books in the world. But stumbling upon it in New York City, on the shelves of two iconic bookstores like Rizzoli and Strand, feels particularly meaningful.

Dr. Giovanni Aloi: The Lawn – Nothing to do With Nature is an interesting interview of @giovannialoi.bsky.social in Landezine about his new book, Lawn. "Gardens and green areas of all types should be regarded as perpetually belonging to all earthlings." landezine.com/dr-giovanni-...

Another stunning nighttime bloom. The ethereal flower of the epiphyllum cactus only lasts one night and will have withered by dawn. Glad I caught it! The fragrance is remarkably similar to angel's trumpet.... #cactus #bloom #queenofnight #flower

This year I’ve spotted a record number of tussock caterpillars on milkweed along the North Shore. They share the monarchs’ coloration but are much hairier. The bristles can trigger blisters on contact. So look, don’t touch. Still, they’re very cute and, for some reason, usually hang around in pairs.

I was recently interviewed by Urška Škerl of Landezine Magazine about 'Lawn'. Read the full interview at the link below. "Škerl: In the concluding chapter, From the Buffers, Back to the Garden, you emphasize liminality as an uncharted space with maximum potential and references a range of artists,

The past few nights have been unseasonably cold in Chicago for the end of August. Nighttime temps in the low 50s mean my hibiscuses shiver disgruntled. But one plant loves the cool nighttime breezes...

An everyday reminder that resilience often reveals itself through imperfection. I came across this cabbage white on my morning walk through the garden, while checking the plants after last night’s storm. Its tattered wings stand as traces of endurance: a testament to a life well lived. #butterflies

I'm honored and excited to speak at the Plant Stories #4 event organized by the Center for Art and Urbanistics in Berlin I will join remotely Leslie Garcia and Ivana Milos for a conversation on plants in contemporary art. More information below and on the website.

Joys of researching... to come upon this mesmerizing nighttime watercolor by Paul Nash titled 'The three trees in the night' (1913) and read this quote in which the artist says that painted trees: "as tho they were human beings... with their sensuous but mysterious personalities...

How did my presentation on Botanical Revolutions for the New York Botanical Garden go? Not bad judging by one of the comments left in the chat... this made my day. With gratitude. #art #plants #botanicalrevolutions #nybg

Earlier this year, I was nvited by Berry/Campbell Gallery in NYC to write about the garden paintings of Eric Dever. The artist and I embarked on a conversation about painting, gardening, and the temporalities they share. An excerpt of which appears in the current issue of Antennae,

One of my favorite works of art I discuss in Botanical Revolutions: Aubert-Henri-Joseph Parent’s Carved Relief (1789), made from limewood. A striking example of late 18th-century craftsmanship. The panel brings together an impressive variety of plants including poppies, roses, lilac, lilies-

Loving my nasturtium this year! Apparently, during WWII, nasturtium seeds were used as a replacement for peppercorn. #garden #nasturtium #flowers #summer

It's hibiscus galore season again and Luke's Dark Inferno is back in full force.... #hibiscus #flower #summer

Antennae Issue 67 - Gardening #2 is now online! Download free at www.antennae.org.uk This issue of Antennae, the one that preceded it, and the one that will follow are dedicated to gardening as a creative process. We need to take gardens very seriously as legitimate

Join me on Tuesday, August 12th, 6pm EST (zoom) as I will present my new book Botanical Revolutions: How Plants Changed the Course of Art for the New York Botanical Garden. Reserve your spot at the link in below! #plants #art #newbook #botanicalrevolutions #arthistory #posthumanism #ecology

The recording of the talk I gave at Harvard in May, as part of the 'Thinking with Plants and Fungi: An Interdisciplinary Exploration into the Mind of Nature', is now available online. In this talk I sketch out the baselines for a concept that

Do you like broad beans? The ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras was reportedly captivated by the plant’s curious structure and the firm yet tender consistency of its seeds. He observed its hollow stems and speculated that they might serve as conduits between the world

There's 8 black swallowtail caterpillars on the fennel!! Hurray!! #blackswallowtail #caterpillars #butterflies #insects

What a joy to be back on The Roundtable Perspective to talk about 'Botanical Revolutions'! This aired on NPR Lake Shore a couple of weeks ago. Not yet available on their youtube channel but it will be soon. Meanwhile you can watch it at the link below.

Caught this baby katydid eating pollen off my lion tamer hibiscus... I had a chat about what can be eaten and what can't... I think I was pretty clear. #katydid #hibiscus #gardenlife #garden

What a joy to come across this extraordinary painting by Eliot Hodgkin while researching for a new book. The work is titled 'St Paul's and St Mary Aldermanbury from St Swithin's Churchyard (1945).

News of Materialities has spread all the way to China! @rbeachy.bsky.social #driehausmuseum #materialities #exhibition #art #posthumanism #anthropocene

I had the great pleasure of visiting the stunning Rachel Ruysch exhibition in Toledo, in the company of the ever-wonderful @JennyKendler. What an extraordinary selection of still-life paintings. A feast of botanical, entomological, and reptilian splendor

"Lawn" is a new, easily readable critical plant studies book by author Giovanni Aloi @giovannialoi.bsky.social "...beneath the lawn lies a stratification of intricate ideological and ecological issues that over time have come to define our conception of nature." www.bloomsbury.com/us/lawn-9798...

I had the pleasure of speaking with Miranda Melcher of the New Books Network about Lawn. We covered a lot, from ecological grief to the politics of green space, the challenges involved in rewilding, and why the lawn might just be the most hellish landscape of the mind.

🌿 Last plant + art giveaway of the month! To wrap up June, I’m sharing something special: the now out-of-print catalogue for Lucian Freud: Herbarium, the exhibition I curated in 2022 at the Garden Museum in London.

Wonderful afternoon at the Driehaus Museum signing copies of Botanical Revolutions! There's one signed copy left at the museum shop... just saying... #botanicalrevolutions #art #plants #books

🌈 More queering of nature for June! My latest essay, “Queer Ecologies Without Nature: Beyond the Heteronormative Kingdom of Taxidermy Dioramas,” has just been published in the zoological journal Holotipus and it’s available to download for free at the link below.

They may be a year old, but they’re still relevant as ever. 🌈🌿 Pride Month is also a time to reconnect with the natural world through the vibrant, transformative lens of queer ecologies.

🌿 Plants in Art Giveaway — Part #3 is here! 🌿 This week, I’m giving away extracts from my award-winning book Why Look at Plants? — a deep dive into the fascinating world of plant-thinking in contemporary art, featuring trailblazing voices from the field of Critical Plant Studies.

Come to the Driehaus Museum in Chicago on Saturday June 21st at 2:00pm to get your signed copy of Botanical Revolutions. A great opportunity to informally chat about plants and art in a wonderful museum.

Deadline looms... image: Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Flowers with Butterfly, 18th century, private collection. More info: www.antennae.org.uk/submissions-1 #antennaejournal #art #realism #nature #perception #epistemology #posthumanism #anthropocene

Living with plants in the words by @giovannialoi.bsky.social. one text each week, very much recommend 🌟🌱

To celebrate the height of the growing season, I’ll be sharing a series of excerpts from my books on plants (new and old) throughout the month of June. These selections explore how we see, think with, and live alongside plants, from houseplants and wildflowers to imagined botanical futures.

Yes… I've got another new book hitting the shelves this month! 'Lawn' is part of the brilliant Object Lessons series edited by Ian Bogost and Christopher Schaberg. Like many of you, I am so fed up with lawns, what they represent, how they poison our water and land, and how

My review of the 19th Venice Biennale of Architecture for Esse Magazine is now online. Read at the link below. You only need to set up a free account to access a never-ending stream of great art writing by a very diverse cohort of artists, art historians, and critics.

On today's 'Il Sole24 Ore' (Italian FT) the article introducing my new book 'Botanical Revolutions: How Plants Changed the Course of Art' just published by Getty. #plants #art #nature #arthistory #botanicalrevolutions #getty @mm-ilsole24ore-bot.bsky.social

Book series editors Giovanni Aloi and Caroline Picard invite new book proposals. We are particularly interested in focused, provocative works—approximately 40,000-50,000 words—that explore themes including (but not limited to) art and

Antennae Call for Submissions: Realisms Please send a 250 word abstract outlining your proposed contribution and up to three images to Giovanni Aloi (Editor and Founder of Antennae at [email protected]) by June 1st 2025. Acceptance notices: June 15th.

"This eye-opening, layered and unforgettable debut collection of over thirty connected stories is drawn from the author’s own extraordinary life." @msmagazine.com on LUCKY TOMORROW: msmagazine.com/2025/05/02/b...

Hellebore galore! #hellebore #springflowers #chicago

In full technicolor glory, here comes a new addition to the 'Art after Nature' series I co-edit with the wonderful author and curator Caroline Picard for University of Minnesota Press. Tessa Laird, "Cinemal: The Becoming Animal of Experimental Film".

Excited to be speaking at Artificial Intelligence to the Test: Creativity and Humanistic Knowledge Today at the University of Milan on May 8, 2025. I'll be sharing reflections on how AI is rapidly reshaping and eroding our trust in new images and emerging knowledge of the natural world. #AI #plants

And so 'Materialities' comes to a close. Nearly two years of work, alongside 14 extraordinary artists and the unwavering support of an incredible museum team. I cannot be more grateful to everyone who worked on the exhibition and also wrote about it! #driehausmuseum #art #materialities #chicago

Really enjoyed seeing & hearing about the work of so many great local artists in the #materialities exhibition last week @ #driehausmuseum curated by @giovannialoi.bsky.social. Here's @rbeachy.bsky.social speaking about the creative process behind her piece in the next slide! #art #chicago #ecology

the show at the driehaus right now is fantastic, the murphy auditorium is now open, and it’s free wednesdays between 4:00-7:00 go