Born in 1926 in Germany into an orthodox Polish-Jewish family, Gustav Metzger came to Britain as a child refugee in 1939; his parents and other members of his family were killed in the Holocaust. Gustav Metzger’s radical vision, foresight and commitment have led to him being acknowledged as one of the most important artists of the post-war avant-garde. From his first manifesto on Auto Destructive Art in 1959 to the Facing Extinction conference and Extinction Marathon at the Serpentine Gallery London in 2014, Metzger has been a pioneer in conceptual and performance art and an uncompromising activist for anti-capitalist and environmental causes.

The concept for point d’ironie was developed through collaboration with artists Bruce Gilchrist and Jo Joelson (London Fieldworks). It began with a handwritten note, an aide memoire, torn from Gustav’s notebook and transformed into a call for action and worldwide campaign for the art world to Remember Nature.

"Art throughout the ages has interacted with nature; as Dürer has said there cannot be art without nature. Our task is to recall the richness and complexity of nature, to protect nature as far as we can. Here is the opportunity for art to extend its functions, to inspire new fields of action, and by doing so entering new territories that are inherently creative and primarily for the good of our world."