Gucci's iconic Flora motif turns 50 next year and to celebrate the print, the Italian fashion house has chosen to hold a blossoming exhibition at its Gucci Museo in Florence. Titled 'The Language of Flowers', this latest offering explores the themes associated with flora in the form of four artist's works including sculpture, photography and conceptual art.
Botanical female faces, Middle Eastern street vendor necklaces and diptychs are not works of art that most would associate with the blooming floral print emblazoned on numerous Gucci collections over the years. But, it is with these deceptive pieces that curator Martin Bethenod aims to introduce the viewer to the various deeper themes flowers hold, such as vanity, politics and grief.
Pieces include Moroccan born artist, Latifa Echakhch's sculpture 'Fantome' (2012). Beyond the visual beauty of the jasmine flower necklaces, the artist uses flora to highlight a political metaphor. Linked to her memory of a travelling jasmine salesman covering his flowers with a shirt to protect their scent and freshness, she evokes the revolutions of the Arab Spring and resistance to chaos through this fragile installation.
Other must-see works include two diptychs by great American photographer Irving Penn. His historical artwork 'Cottage Tulip, Sorbet, New York' (1967) and 'Single Oriental Poppy' (1968) show the great attention paid to perfection through the complex technique, proving that maybe flowers aren't always so simple.
Alluding to one of Gucci's most iconic motifs Flora, curator Martin Bethenod explores the themes associated with flowers in the form of four artists works.
Historical diptychs by famous American photographer, Irving Penn, (pictured here) among others, are not works of art that most would associate with the house's blooming floral print.
But, it is these deceptive pieces that helped curator Martin Bethenod introduce the viewer to the various deeper themes that flowers hold such as, vanity and grief.
Must-see pieces include French photographer Valerie Belin's 2010 floral motif of female faces: 'Phlox New Hybrid (with Dahlia Redskin)' is featured left.
'Calendula (Marigold)' as pictured and 'Phlox New Hybrid (with Dahlia Redskin)' mark the ambiguity between human and plant, natura and artifice and the real and virtual.
On show until the 20 September, the exhibition gives viewers an insight into Gucci's famous Flora print, as seen in this previous exhibition.
ADDRESS
Gucci Museo
Piazza della Signoria,10
50122 Firenze
Italy
-
Our Tech Editor's selection of new and upgraded audio players covers the full spectrum of formatsWhether it’s vinyl, cassette, CD or mp3, or even sound sources you’ve captured yourself, you’ll find a suitable device in this round-up of pocketable and portable audio players
-
This Swedish summer house is a family's serene retreat by the trees and the Baltic seaHorsö, a Swedish summer house by Atelier Alba is a playfully elegant retreat by the Kalmarsund Sea and a natural reserve
-
A new exhibition retraces 50 years of Pierre Paulin’s history around the table‘Les Tables de Pierre Paulin’ shows a lesser-known side of the designer’s creative world, accompanied by a new book tracing his wife’s hospitality around his iconic table designs. ‘A creator is never alone in his creation…’
-
Alessandro Michele to exit his role as creative director of GucciItalian house Gucci has confirmed Alessandro Michele will leave after a seven-year tenure in which his eclectic aesthetic has proved a critical and commercial success
-
Gucci Love Parade LA to Bottega Veneta in Detroit: American fashion must-seesGrab your headscarf, sunglasses and driving shoes as we take a stylish road trip around the USA, where cities including Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit are dialling up their fashion focus with events, activations and runway shows
-
Step inside a Gucci campaign in FlorenceGucci Garden ‘Archetypes' exhibition brings to life 15 of Alessandro Michele's most iconic advertising campaigns for the Florentine brand
-
A decade of fashion show history in picturesBritish photographer Jason Lloyd Evans shares his favourite backstage images, from the runway shows of Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Armani, Proenza Schouler, Versace and more
-
Gucci's Seoul show considers radical perspectives on ‘otherness’The fashion label sponsors ‘No Space, Just a Place, which invites guests to consider radical perspectives on ‘otherness’, led by Tunisian-born curator Myriam Ben Salah
-
Alessandro Michele goes behind the scenes of Gucci’s A/W 2020 showCreative director Alessandro Michele invited the audience backstage for the Gucci A/W 2020 show in Milan, to explore the construction of the runway
-
Gucci A/W 2020 Milan Fashion Week Men's -
Gucci takes travelators to heaven in its S/S 2020 show set
