"The Language of Flowers," an exhibition paying homage to Gucci's timeless icon, Flora, is running until September 20th at the Gucci Museum in Florence, Italy. This marks the museum's seventh contemporary art exhibition, and was curated by Martin Besnod, director of Venice's Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana art galleries. The exhibition brings together a variety of works by four artists spanning the period from 1967 to 2012. Using mundane motifs, the seemingly simple works are imbued with a delicate yet profound ambiguity, exploring themes such as vanity, recollection, politics, and artistic value. Valerie Belin, a French photographer known for her striking works that highlight the tense contrasts between objects and bodies, still life and people, will be exhibiting "Calerndua (Marigold)" and "Phlox New Hybrid," a collaboration with Dahlia Redskin. By combining female faces with floral motifs, she creates various hybrids characterized by the blurred boundaries between human and plant, natural and artificial, real and virtual, presence and absence, and seductive and cold. Meanwhile, Marlene Dumas, one of the Netherlands' most renowned artists, has worked in a wide range of media, including painting, collage, drawing, sculpture, and installation. She currently also works in oil painting and ink on paper. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations, including newspaper clippings, personal memories, Flemish paintings, and Polaroid photographs, her works are often classified as portraits, but in reality, they depict the emotions and moods of the moment. The flowers floating in a deep blue sea in "Einder," featured in this exhibition, were originally displayed on the coffin of Dumas's recently deceased mother. The delicate use of color conveys feelings of remembrance and grief. Similarly, Latifa Echakhch creates works that intricately combine symbols, symbols, patterns, and signs, encouraging diverse interpretations while also centering social and political debate. Her sculpture, "Fantome," featured in this exhibition, is made from jasmine necklaces sold by street vendors on Middle Eastern streets. It connects to her memories of her time in Beirut, where she would peddle jasmine flowers, covering them with her own shirts to preserve their fragrance and delicacy. Its fragile appearance symbolizes the revolutions and chaotic resistance movements of the Arab Spring.

Irving Penn, who has collaborated with Vogue since his first color still life photograph graced the cover of the magazine in 1943, will be featured in the exhibition, including "Cottage Tulip: Soebet, New York" and "Single Oriental Poppy." Both works were shot with the same composition, expressing the transience and emptiness of passing time. In addition to classic compositions, he used printing techniques such as platinum prints for the black-and-white photographs and dye transfer for the color photographs, suggesting his absolute perfectionism.


【Event Information】
Language of Flowers
Venue: Gucci Museo
Address: 10, Piazza della Signoria, Florence
Dates: March 13th to September 20th
Time: 10:00 to 20:00 (10:00 to 23:00 on Thursdays)
Price: 7 euros