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FLOWERS – FLORA IN CONTEMPORARY ART & CULTURE

FLOWERS – FLORA IN CONTEMPORARY ART & CULTURE: SAATCHI GALLERY EXPLORES THE ENDURING INFLUENCE OF FLOWERS ON FASHION; FEATURING WORKS BY BUCCELLATI, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, NICK KNIGHT, MARY QUANT, SCHIAPARELLI, MARIMEKKO AND MORE

LONDON, UK (January 2025) – As part of its major spring exhibition FLOWERS – FLORA INCONTEMPORARY ART & CULTURE supported by Cazenove Capital and Buccellati, Saatchi Gallery is exploring the rich relationship between flowers and fashion. Featuring pieces from the high street to haute couture, the exhibition highlights how flowers have long served as a boundless source of inspiration, aspirational charm, and timeless appeal.

Designers have drawn from flowers for their symbolic meanings, vibrant colours, and intricate textures. Their delicate forms and rich hues influence everything from fabric designs to embroidery, allowing for a seamless blend of artistic expression and wearability. Whether celebrating romanticism or the beauty of the natural world, flowers remain a perennial muse in fashion.

Official supporter Buccellati presents six hyperrealist bejewelled floral brooches, a tribute to the Maison’s stylistic identity across generations. These one-of-a-kind pieces, carefully selected from the Buccellati Historic Collection, include the 1929 Orchid and the 1960s Daisy brooches, both crafted by founder Mario Buccellati, and Gianmaria Buccellati’s 1991 Begonia brooch with matching earrings. The exhibition also features newly unveiledMagnolia flower brooches, reinterpreted by Andrea Buccellati, which showcase sapphires, emeralds, and rubies, and are handcrafted with the Maison’s signature “segrinato” engraving – giving the petals a velvety soft texture typical of Buccellati.

Nature also inspires Buccellati’s silverware, and the exhibition includes its renowned flower bowls from the Natura collection—elegant, sophisticated pieces with subtle veins and crinkled petals. Buccellati notes, The explicit reference to flowers and nature in ourcreations holds great value. They symbolize rebirth, joy, and the cycle of life, reminding humanity of beauty’s fleeting nature. Our designs draw from Renaissance influences and the meticulous botanical observation of Flemish still-life paintings.

Vivienne Westwood, renowned for her passion for nature and climate activism, also reflects on her love and knowledge of flowers in her designs, blending aesthetics with deeper cultural meaning. Vivienne Westwood have used floral prints and embellishments to explore nature, femininity, and rebellion throughout their collections, often contrasting soft floral elements with a punk or DIY aesthetic. The works featured in the exhibition showcase Westwood’s ability to fuse romanticism with avant-garde style, drawing on historical fashion influences to create a unique fusion of tradition and rebellion.

World-renowned Photographer and Founder and Director of SHOWstudio Nick Knight presents Rose I and Rose II (2012) from his Rose Photo Paintings series, where the plants featured appear to ‘drip’ from the page as a result of heat and water being introduced during the printing process.

Honoring the Gallery’s local ties to fashion, FLOWERS also includes works by Mary Quant, one of the 20th century’s most important British designers who opened her boutique, ‘Bazaar’ on the King’s Road in Chelsea in 1955.

Schiaparelli presents a 2024 Haute Couture wedding dress designed by Daniel Roseberry in white silk taffeta and embellished with three-dimensional hand painted leather hydrangeas, parrot tulips, orchids and daisies. Known for her surrealist approach, Elsa Schiaparelli often used flowers to make bold visual statements. Through innovative techniques such as floral- inspired embroidery and 3D appliqué, Schiaparelli transformed flowers into surreal and avant- garde designs, blending high fashion with nature.

Also featured in the exhibition is Marimekko – a Finnish lifestyle design house founded in 1951 and globally renowned for its art of printmaking. Floral subjects, both abstract and literal, have become a hallmark of Marimekko’s design identity since artist Maija Isola designed a series of abstract floral prints for the house in the 1960s despite Marimekko founder Armi Ratia’s belief that beauty of flowers could not be captured in an artwork.

Today, floral abstractions are an unmistakable emblem at Marimekko and a source of inspiration for a new generation of print designers. The exhibition presents recent works by Antti Kekki, whose modern floral depictions capture Marimekko’s joyful and artistic essence through a fresh lens.

Recognising that floral fashion extends beyond garments, the exhibition also features the tattoo art of Daniel The Gardener, whose botanical tattoos explore the intricate relationship between humans and the environment. Daniel crafts tailor-made pieces that respect and honour the distinctive morphology of each client’s body, evoking a sense of inherent belonging.” He says, at the core of my work is the art of storytelling, where I translate the sitters’ personal narratives and their unique relationships with plants into one-of-a-kind tattoos. On view are pictures and videos showcasing tattoos from Daniel’s years living and working in London – all featuring site- specific flora, accompanied by commentary from the individual subjects sharing their unique relationships with plants; as well as paintings created by Daniel at his recent Sarabande Foundation residency: Beneath the Sun, Once Together, and Along the Way.

The exhibition’s Fashion section also showcases works by The Arc, Stephanie Comilang, Camomile Creations, and Holly Stephenson. All set against the backdrop of rich wall colours, decorative patterns, and Sanderson Design Group wallpaper – further nodding to the proliferation of floral design in fashionable interiors. It offers a rich exploration of nature’s boundless inspiration in fashion and beyond.

FLOWERS – FLORA IN CONTEMPORARY ART & CULTURE presents over 500 unique artworks and objects across two floors and nine major gallery spaces to showcase the ongoing influence of flowers on creativity and human expression. The project partner for a presentation of photographic works from Flora Imaginaria, curated by Danaé Panchaud and William Ewing, is the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (FEP). The exhibition is supported by Cazenove Capital and Buccellati.

Saatchi Gallery Lates will take place on 14 February, 28 February, 14 March, 11 April and 2 May and will feature drawing classes, workshops and creative activations.

Featured artists include:

Cristina Alcantara, Pedro Almodóvar, Nobuyoshi Araki, Nick Archer, Gillian Ayres, Jessica Backhaus, Mandy Barker, Brendan Barry, Susan Beech, Valérie Belin, Andy Bettles, Elizabeth Blackadder, John Blakemore, Jean Baptiste Bosschaert, Faye Bridgwater, Orlanda Broom, Buccellati, Olga Cafiero, Ann Carrington, Rob & Nick Carter, Miguel Chevalier, Christo, Philip Colbert, Lottie Cole, Stephanie Comilang, Sharon Core, Michael Craig-Martin, Reuben Dangoor, Lia Darjes, William Darrell, Tom de Houwer, Richard de Tscharner, Elspeth Diederix, Jim Dine, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Ron van Dongen, Xuebing Du, Elaine Duigenan, Pamela Ellis Hawkes, Ruud van Empel, Joanna Epstein, Mary Fedden, Robert Frank, Anne von Freyburg, Erwan Frotin, Adam Fuss, Matthieu Gafsou, Grace Gillespie, Sky Glabush, Daniel Gordon, Maro Gorky, Roberto Greco, Jo Grogan, Anna Halm Schudel, Joanna Ham, Rose Electra Harris, Dan Hays, George Henry, Realf Heygate, Damien Hirst, Aimée Hoving, Gary Hume, Florence Hutchings, Mila Ilingina, Yinka Ilori, Michelle Jung, Nadav Kander, Heath Kane, Sandra Kantanen, Alex Katz, Rob Kesseler, Kior Ko, Jan Sebastian Koch, Irene Küng, Wole Lagunju, Caroline Larsen, Rebecca Louise Law, David Lebe, Laura Letinsky, Kathrin Linkersdorff, Brigitte Lustenberger, Mari Mahr, Martin Maloney, Ann Mandelbaum, Tony Matelli, Margaret Mellis, Anastasija Michailova, Andrew Millar, Banita Mistry, Carmen Mitrotta, Abelardo Morell, William Morris, Alphonse Mucha, Vik Muniz, Galina Munroe, Takashi Murakami, Winifred Nicholson, Jesse Pollock, Janet Pulcho, Stormy Pyeatte, Marc Quinn, Dan Rawlings, Marcel Rickli, Almudena Romero, Paul Rousteau, Andrew Salgado, Frederick Sander, Viviane Sassen, Thirza Schaap, Schiaprelli, Helene Schmitz, Martin Schoeller, Megan Seiter, Amy Shelton, Ann Shelton, David Shrigley, Niki Simpson, Paul Anthony Smith, Soldier, Rudolf Steiner, Holly Stevenson, Florent Stosskopf, Daniel The Gardener, Rebecca Thomas, Mimei Thompson, Miriam Tölke, VOYDER, Robert Walker, Tim Walker, Tom Wesselmann, Jo Whaley, Jess Wilson, Emma Witter, Kasia Wozniak, Nadirah Zakariya, Christina Zimpel, Victoria Zschommler, Andrew Zuckerman

Curatorial project partners include:

Chelsea Physic Garden, Cinema Poster Gallery, The Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (FEP), Marimekko, Mary Quant Limited, Sanderson Design Group including Morris & Co., William Morris Gallery

ENDS-

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