Wildflowers

The flower is one of the oldest and most-used symbols in Western art history. Imbued with personal, cultural, and religious significance, the flower has been interpreted and reinterpreted, assigned and reassigned meaning, for millennia. From the lotus flower in Ancient Egyptian art to the decaying bouquet memento mori of the Renaissance to the abstracted technicolor depictions of Pop Art, artists have forever engaged and celebrated the flower’s ability to communicate. 

Artists have not only been responsible for disseminating the flower’s symbolic meaning at any given time in history–they are the pioneers who have continually shifted its interpretation. Informed by developing religions, political dominance, scientific inquiry, societal customs, and a deep curiosity in nature, artists have challenged the way in which flowers can be portrayed and interpreted in art. These re-interpreters are names readily recognized - Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Maria van Oosterwijck, Eugène Delacroix, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, Kehinde Wiley. Across time periods, religions, cultures, geographies, and artistic styles, the flower has always been, and remains to be, a powerful, relatable, and personal symbol.

The six artists in Wildflowers continue the millennia-old tradition of depicting, interpreting, and (re)assigning meaning to flowers. The exhibition weaves together different perspectives shaped by diverse backgrounds and identities, styles and techniques, and intentions and influences, encapsulating the complexities of artistic expression and human experience. Wildflowers  challenges the viewer to set aside preconceived notions and abandon expectations in order to view the world through another’s eyes. Just like a meadow filled with wildflowers, there is irreplicable beauty in diversity.