The Bucerius Kunst Forum presents Flowers Forever. Flowers in Art and Culture, a lavishly staged exhibition through the art and cultural history of flowers from antiquity to the present day. The tour brings together paintings, sculptures, photographs and objects from the fields of design and science. Established positions in the history of art and design and newly discovered artistic approaches are juxtaposed here for the first time and enter into a fruitful dialog. The important role of the flower in culture, mythology, religion, politics, economics and ecology is discussed and the omnipresence of the flower as a symbol and natural phenomenon is demonstrated.
The show features works from international collections as well as installations developed especially for the exhibition. The multifaceted history of the flower can be experienced by visitors on various sensory levels thanks to the compilation of interdisciplinary and international exhibits. Among others, the following artists are represented: Ai Weiwei, Jan Brueghel the Younger, Andreas Gursky, Hannah Höch, Kapwani Kiwanga, Walid Raad, Kehinde Wiley.
Hannah Höch, Holland, 1942, on loan from the Federal Republic of Germany - Contemporary Art Collection / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
The sight of a flower triggers impressive emotions and has been highly symbolic both for us personally and socially in cultural history for centuries. The cross-genre and cross-temporal presentation of Flowers Forever illustrates the different and at the same time similar interpretations of flowers. Whether in politics and culture, in mythology and religion: the symbols have changed again and again regionally and over the centuries, as people have always attributed new meanings to flowers. Examples of this can be found in literature, but especially in politics. The works in the exhibition include, for example, the Carnation Revolution and the protests against the Vietnam War. The symbol of the flower in the context of these and other events stands for resistance and protest. The wide use of the flower shows its timeless omnipresence in political and activist communication. The enormous variety of shapes and colors makes the flower a source of inspiration for artistic exploration.
Rebecca Louise Law, Goblet of Flowers, 2023,produced on behalf of the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung Munich © Rebecca Louise Law / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024
The exhibition uses the flower to show the close connection between the two disciplines: While the natural sciences primarily make use of artful and precise illustrations of research findings, the artistic explorations reflect the relationship between art, nature and science and celebrate the diversity of the flower. In most cases, the depictions go far beyond scientific reality. The fact that flowers do not necessarily only function as a symbolic image is shown by their classification as a product on today's market. In past centuries, flowers were coveted status symbols; today they are traded globally as a mass product. As a result, the flower is currently coming into focus as a fragile and indispensable component of the global ecosystem. The exhibition brings together artistic positions that explore these ecological and social issues. The human treatment of the flower as a mass product inspires some of the artists to address consumer behavior and the effects of human activity on the environment. At the same time, they question man's relationship to nature and his role in it.
October 12, 2024 to January 19, 2025
www.buceriuskunstforum.de
Kehinde Wiley, Portrait of a Florentine Nobleman III, 2019, courtesy of the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, photo © Sammlung Vilsmeier - Linhares, Munich
