In Bloom: Flowers Take Center Stage In A London Exhibit

With spring upon the northern hemisphere, floral-themed exhibitions are abloom in the U.S. and Europe. In “The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism” at New York Botanical Garden, for example, thousands of the tropical specimens cluster around vivid partitions inspired by Luis Barragán; at Denver Botanic Gardens, “Finding Light” features Anna Kaye’s charcoal depictions of forest plants regrowing after a wildfire.

Perhaps the most extensive of these shows is “Flowers–Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture” at Saatchi Gallery in London. It’s compre­hensive not only in size—with more than 500 works by 150 international artists, both established and emerging—but also in scope, ranging from the subject’s influence on painting, sculpture, film, fashion, and decor, organized among nine separate galleries. Among the standouts is Jo Grogan’s Best Chair, sprouting ceramic tulips, a Victorian-meets-punk ensemble by Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood, and an engaging 35-foot-high entry mural by Sophie Mess, titled Journey of Progress. “The beauty and symbolic power of flowers,” say exhibit cocurators Katherine Benson and Rosie Grant, “invite reflection on the human experience.”