In London, an Enormous Exhibition of 500+ Works Roots Out the Creative Seeds of Flowers

In nature, flowers serve as an essential component of the reproduction process. But for humans, scented blooms are ripe with myriad meanings and symbolism that transcend their biological functions.

During Victorian times, offering a bouquet to someone with your right hand indicated a non-verbal “yes,” while a yellow carnation would reject an admirer. Similarly in art history, wilting flowers rendered as a momento mori remind us of death’s inevitability, and for van Gogh, sunflowers were the perfect stand-in for gratitude.

a photo of a person laying in a wheelbarrow covered by flowers — Aimée Hoving, “Compost” (2019). Image © Aimee Hoving, flowers by Brigitte Gentis van Dam Merrett

A massive exhibition opening next month at Saatchi Gallery cultivates a vast repertoire of works that explores how blooms have become an omnipresent entity in human life and creativity. Flowers: Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture brings together more than 500 photographs, installations, sculptures, archival pieces, and other objects to create a rich landscape spanning millennia.

Anchoring the exhibition is an expansive and immersive work of 100,000-plus dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law. Smaller pieces include Xuebing Du’s ethereal photos of flowers in natural light, VOYDER’s streaky steam-laden compositions, and lush, vibrant gardens by Faye Bridgewater.

Opening in time to usher in spring in London, Flowers runs from February 12 to May 5.

a bouquet sits behind a foggy screen with clean streaks revealing the image — VOYDER, “In Love with the Idea of You” (2024). Image courtesy of the artist

a black and white collage of a woman with two faces spliced together — Miriam Tolke, “Flowers of Yesterday.” Image courtesy of the artist

a still life painting of a bouquet with delicate streaks of paint across the flowers — Sandra Kantanen, “Still Life (Flowers I).” Image courtesy the artist and Purdy Hicks Gallery

a dreamy image of a flower with black specks in the center — Xuebing Du, “Mother of Pearl” (2018). Image courtesy of the artist

a philodendron with pink and green coloring stands next to another flower that juts from a wall and cracks down in a perfect right angle — Carmen Mitrotta, “Geometric Leaves.” Image courtesy the artist

a lush painting of flowers in pinks, purples, reds, and oranges — Faye Bridgwater, “En Masse” (2025). Image courtesy of the artist

flowers drip in long vibrant streaks — Ann von Freyburg, “Floral Arrangement 1 (After Jan van Huysum, Still Life).” Image courtesy of the artist

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