an exhibition inspired by the grand codex of botanicals, the natural history cabinet and the poetry of scientific observation.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
ART: PETER SANDBACK
DEADLINE DTB
Juror to be announced
A Call for Art | Juniper Rag Contemporary
Nature is never merely arranged. It is endlessly revealing itself.
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus published Systema Naturae, an epic and ambitious attempt to bring order to our vast natural world through classification and naming. The impulse to collect, document, categorize, and understand the living world has captivated scientists, artists and naturalists for centuries. Yet nature resists the boundaries we create for it. It grows beyond its containers, transforms under observation and holds mysteries that no system can entirely resolve—it is wild and wonderful.
Juniper Rag Contemporary invites artists to contribute to SYSTEMA NATURAE, an exhibition inspired by the grand codex of botanicals, the natural history cabinet and the poetry of scientific observation. We seek work that considers the natural world as specimen, system, landscape, archive or living wonder. Think pressed botanicals, intricate studies, collected fragments, anatomical curiosities, organic abstractions, geological records, fungi, flora, fauna, seeds, shells and the delicate structures that connect all living things. Get wild.
We welcome work that embraces the precision of a field guide as readily as the strangeness of an imagined ecosystem. Consider the beauty of a labeled specimen, the geometry of a leaf, the architecture of a seedpod, the evidence of decay, or the uneasy relationship between humanity's desire to classify nature and nature's refusal to remain fixed. From meticulous observation to experimental interpretation of abstraction, we are interested in work that rewards closer looking in the spirit of the natural world.
Artists working in painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, collage, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, mixed media, and other contemporary practices are encouraged to submit.
This is an invitation to build a visual archive of the extraordinary world around us: part naturalist's study, part cabinet of curiosities, part contemporary botanical codex.
We love a macro view. Celebrate collections. WE notice a lot of artists are also collectors of things in the natural world. Celebrate the reference. Question the order of things.
Submit your work to Systema Naturae and help us consider what it means to name, preserve, interpret and inhabit the natural world.
DETAILS SOON. [LINK NOT YET ACTIVATED…]
FRAMED ART: JENNY BROWN
Artist Review
“As a figurative oil painter who began working seriously in 2019, I was still finding my footing when I discovered Juniper Rag through a call for art in 2022. At the time, I was submitting to the occasional local show and navigating the art world with more questions than answers. Juniper Rag changed that.
Their platform opened doors I hadn’t imagined, from gaining collectors in Newton, Worcester, Boston, and Newport, to building lasting relationships with artists across the globe. What sets Juniper Rag apart is not just their reach, but their heart. The support and guidance I received from how to approach submissions, to articulating my work, to navigating social media and applications was generous, strategic, and deeply human.
Their curatorial vision is on fire. I’ve watched their exhibitions evolve with increasing depth and sophistication, culminating in the current show Delirium, a cinematic, emotionally charged triumph that’s their best yet.
Michelle and Payal, the visionary co-founders, have created more than a platform for artists and collectors. They’ve built a community. One that is ambitious yet inclusive, high-level yet grounded in real connection. I now count them as friends, and I’m endlessly grateful for the role they’ve played in my growth as an artist.
If you’re an Artist looking for a place that sees your potential and helps you rise into it, Juniper Rag is that place.” —Simone Scholes, 2025
