Through evocative digital imagery, François Bancon’s latest solo exhibition in Malaysia, titled Nature in Exile 2.0, reflects on nature’s suffering and resilience, inviting viewers to contemplate our shared environmental future.
In an age defined by rapid urbanisation and ecological uncertainty, French digital artist François Bancon’s solo exhibition Nature in Exile 2.0, now debuting in Malaysia, invites us to pause and reflect on humanity’s complex relationship with the natural world.
Bancon’s arresting digital artworks speak not just as images, but as poignant allegories — powerful reminders of what stands to be lost if nature is relegated to mere artefacts of memory.
Having relocated from France to Kuala Lumpur, Bancon blends his multidisciplinary background in art history, philosophy, and science with expertise forged during his tenure as chief futurist for Renault-Nissan’s design studios. This unique fusion manifests in images that go beyond conventional photography: digital creations that challenge viewers to confront beauty, loss, hope, and the uneasy truths of environmental degradation.
“To be an artist means to question the world and to cherish beauty — be it in nature or humanity,” Bancon reflects. His Nature in Exile 2.0 series evolved naturally from earlier work exploring migration and displacement — themes aligned with a sense of loss, longing, and exile. Here, that narrative is translated into nature’s plight: banished from our daily lives, often reduced to landscapes in glossy picture books rather than living, breathing ecosystems.
The exhibition offers a profound meditation on two of today’s defining crises: climate change and migration. Bancon’s work oscillates between stark beauty and haunting decay, revealing not only the fragility of the environment but also the resilience inherent in cycles of degeneration and rebirth.
Cyril Pereira, the exhibition’s Head Curator, succinctly captures its essence: “Bancon’s images anchor humanity to nature’s wreckage, compelling sober reflection on what is at stake. Is this photography or digital manipulation? It is social commentary. His work reminds us that without urgent change, the world we know—flowers, trees, birds—may survive only within enclosed spaces or memory.”
The exhibition is hosted at the Centre of Photographic Arts in Petaling Jaya from 12 October to 16 November 2025. It is an invitation to both feel and think — to confront the precariousness of our environment and the choices that will shape its future.
Whether encountered through Bancon’s large-format images or experienced in conversation with his themes, Nature in Exile 2.0 is a compelling call to consciousness. It challenges us to remember that beauty is not only an aesthetic delight but the shortest path to truth — and that truth, in turn, demands stewardship and hope.
(Above) Visit to the Garden.
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