Handpicked at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge
If I may butcher a Miranda Priestly quote from The Devil Wears Prada: "an exhibition about flowers in spring? Groundbreaking". Yet, this exhibition at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge allows unexpected ideas to blossom. Despite the loyal museum aesthetic adopted by its curation, the coming together of historical and contemporary artworks allows for a narrative that defies the cliche of being a pretty exhibition about pretty flowers. Exhibition installation image courtesy of Kettle's Yard. Copyright Jo Underhill. There is a cosiness between the subjectivity of experiencing flowers and that of experiencing art. Personally, I had previously not given much thought into the ways in which we might all feel differently about flowers. Of course, many events that punctuate the human experience are marked with flowers: birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and funerals. Western societies have co-opted flowers to bear a symbolism that they do not necessarily have in the botanical world,...
