Continuing the ideal behind Art of Dining, the latest iteration – Art of Bloom – has art direction by Amanda Henderson of Gloss Creative, and will showcase extraordinary floral displays throughout the National Gallery of Victoria Great Hall. A gala cocktail party on the 3 May will launch the exhibition with public access the following day.
Exploring blooms, flowers, foliage, buds and boughs in plant, sculpture, porcelain, and astonishing assemblages from the natural world, ‘Art of Bloom’ will exhibit over twenty leading Australian floral creatives and artists including Acid Flwrs, Aimee Pradel, Alchemy Orange, Amanda Dziedzic, Azumi Ishikawa, Flowers by Brett Matthew John, Flowers Vasette, Hiromi Tango, Kate Rohde, Michael Barrett, Michael Strownix X Louisa Curtis, Everbloome, NGVWA (NGV Women’s Association), Paper Couture, Rita Feldmann, Sally Kent, Shoso Shimbo, Sour Sunflower, Steven Gabriel Maccora, Tracey Deep, Victoria Whitelaw, Vivien Hollingsworth, and xxflos.
For the exhibition, each artist has been asked to respond to a work currently held in the NGV Collection, supported with funds raised by the NGVWA. For example, the NGVWA has added works to the NGV collection, including those by Andy Warhol, Anish Kapoor, Christopher Dresser and Peter Booth.
The NGVWA has previously supported acquisitions including the interactive installation work Flower Obsession by celebrated Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama for the inaugural NGV Triennial 2017; and in 2020, the large-scale installation work Weltenlinie 2020 by German artist Alicja Kwade.
“Over the last 60 years, the NGVWA has supported the growth of the gallery’s collection of major works. The Art of Bloom creatives have each responded to an NGVWA-supported work as a seed for their creative explorations,” says Laura Kininmonth, NGVWA spokesperson.
Moreover, the pairings are not obvious. Rather, they are entirely reflective of the artworks and will range from sedate to spectacular: “I will create a ghostly robe of deep red florals to represent the robe of Christ in Orazio Gentileschi’s painting The Mocking of Christ. The emotion I want to convey with the installation is the mystery of the unknown,” says florist Steven Gabriel Maccora.
Claire Mueller of Sydney fine art floral studio ACID.FLWRS will invite visitors to view the world in hyper colour with a stunning display of Phalaenopsis orchids in a blue, pink and orange marble effect against a dichroic acrylic mirror.
The exhibition will from Thursday 4 May, 10am-5pm and evening session 7pm-9pm, through to Friday 5 May, 10am-5pm.
Tickets available online ngv.vic.gov.au/support-us/ngvwa/events/art-of-bloom
Early bird $35 (booked before 27 March)
Full price $40
