Rebecca Louise Law, “La Fleur Morte.” (Photo: Matt Chung)
At Saatchi Gallery in London, spring has arrived early. On February 12, flowers started blooming across the gallery in the form of vibrant paintings, dramatic garments, delicate sculptures, and meditative photographs, comprising more than 500 unique artworks. This is what greets visitors upon entering one of the gallery’s most ambitious exhibitions to date: Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture.
Exhibition curators Katherine Benson and Rosie Grant, both of whom are also exhibition programming executives at Saatchi Gallery, found it critical that Flowers serve, first and foremost, a celebratory function. Throughout history, flowers have maintained their enduring appeal across art, fashion, literature, film, and music, and the exhibition seeks to trace and commemorate that trajectory through a diverse range of featured works.
“Our wish was to present a major exhibition that explored the breadth and depth of this phenomenon,” Benson and Grant tell My Modern Met. “By examining their cultural and symbolic significance, we can appreciate how flowers remain relevant in both historical and contemporary contexts.”
Flowers, the pair continues, builds upon Saatchi’s In Bloom exhibition, originally staged in 2022. Compared to the former exhibition, In Bloom provided only a “small snapshot” of contemporary artists working with floral themes and imagery, with Flowers offering a “deeper exploration” of the various meanings flowers have assumed throughout cultural production.
“Flowers have long been used as symbols, representing emotions and life events such as love, birth, and death,” the pair explain. “They’re deeply ingrained in our collective consciousness, and their beauty has continuously inspired artists.”
Indeed, the exhibition provides a rigorous overview of these themes, spanning artwork by renowned figures such as Yinka Ilori, Yayoi Kusama, William Morris, Takashi Murakami, Vivienne Westwood, and Alex Katz, among many others. Other highlights include a monumental spray-painted mural by Sophie Mess, titled Journey of Progress, and Miguel Chevalier’s Extra Natural, which invites visitors into a lush virtual garden that seamlessly blends dreamlike atmospheres with reality.
This impressive sprawl may seem intimidating, but it’s a feature and not a flaw of the exhibition’s design. To accommodate its myriad artworks, Benson and Grant divided Flowers into several sections, each dedicated to a particular concept such as “Flowers and Fashion,” “Science: Life & Death,” and “Fashion & Flowers.” The “Roots” section, for instance, focuses on mapping the progression of floral art from the Renaissance to the late 20th century, while “In Full Bloom” offers a glimpse into innovative new work by contemporary artists.
“We created the journey our visitors would take,” Benson and Grant say, “by looking back through the rich history of flowers right up to present day responses, while also considering the importance of flowers to particular disciplines or media.”
Perhaps most impressive of all, however, is Rebecca Louise Law’s La Fleur Morte, an immersive work encompassing over 100,000 dried flowers.
“[La Fleur Morte] delves into the space between life and death, memorializing nature through flowers,” the pair explain. “Since 2003, [Law] has collected flowers from the commercial flower industry, donations from gardens worldwide, and even grows her own, ensuring nothing is wasted.”
Taken in its entirety, Flowers is a sweeping and uplifting survey of humanity’s eternal fascination with flowers across time, place, and medium.
“Visitors can explore everything from tattoo art to couture wedding dresses, paintings to digital art, and even nostalgic album covers to film posters,” Benson and Grant say. “We hope [they] leave with a fresh appreciation for flowers and a respect for our natural world.”
Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture is open until May 5, 2025, at Saatchi Gallery’s London location.
Spring has sprung at Saatchi Gallery in London with its opening of Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture.
Photo: Matt Chung
Photo: Matt Chung
“In Bloom,” Viviane Sassen, shot for Dazed & Confused Magazine.
Photo: Matt Chung
The exhibition comprises over 500 artworks inspired by floral imagery, whether it be sculptures, photographs, fashion garments, or paintings.
Photo: Matt Chung
Photo: Matt Chung
“Compost,” Aimée Hoving, 2019.
Brendan Barry, “Common Poppy 1.”
Flowers is organized into several sections, each exploring specific themes such as science, death, and fashion.
Photo: Matt Chung
Photo: Matt Chung
Photo: Matt Chung
Nick Knight, “Rose I,” 2012.
Rebecca Louise Law, “La Fleur Morte.” (Photo: Matt Chung)
The exhibition is currently on view at the London gallery until May 5, 2025.
Marimekko © Rasmus Weng Karlsen.
Photo: Matt Chung
Buccellati, “MARGHERITA.”
Photo: Matt Chung
