The Cornell’s Intriguing Flora Exhibit

(l.) "Mandela Grid" by Miya Ando; (c) Cornell Museum;  (r) "Windbown" by Hayley Sheldon 

Flora presents a garden of sensory delights  

"Windblown" by Hayley Sheldon

As you enter the atrium of the Cornell Art Museum, you will be greeted by huge golden paper dandelions hanging from the atrium ceiling. Called “Windblown” by Hayley Sheldon, this artwork is the exhilarating opening act of Flora--the museum's summer-long exhibition. The exhibit has provided viewers with a surprisingly fresh look at a traditional subject—flowers—put together by the museum’s very creative curator,  Melanie Johanson. She challenged artists to present their own conception of flowers in any medium they chose.  The results are both varied and fascinating.

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Walk through a  "Floating Garden"....... 

"Floating Garden" by Amanda McCavour

The exhibition contains two very impressive large installations: "Enchanted" on the second floor and  Amanda McCavour's “Floating Garden” on the ground floor in a corner room. This floating garden is composed of delicately embroidered flowers like buttercups held up by lines of string hanging from the ceiling. The flowers bend  and bow their heads graciously like real plants as you walk down the path in the middle of the room.

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Andy Warhol here!

"Untitled" by Andy Warhol

On the first floor you'll also find an pen and ink flower drawing
by the most famous artist in the show--Andy Warhol.
 It's a  delicate, almost  whimsical 
 sketch--completely unlike his later
​ silkscreened flower prints.  

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 A jolt to Buddhist tranquility

"Forget Me Not Featuring Warhol" by Metis Atash

On the second floor, however, you'll get a feeling for those silk creened prints by Warhol. Just take a look at the small  bejeweled statue of Buddha by Metis Atash. It's entitled “Forget Me Not Featuring Warhol.” The statue glitters with colorful Swarovski crystals set in patterns from Warhol’s silk screened flower prints; but the spikes covering Buddha's head almost look like a warning. The statue seems to ask: Is glittering beauty better than Buddhist tranquility? It’s up to us to decide.

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A forest both "Enchanted" and threatened 

In a corner room on the second floor you'll find the installation entitled:"Enchanted." It's a room of mystery-- an indoor  forest with a pond in the middle co-created by Diane Arrieta and photographer/video artist Cheryl Maeder. The center of the room takes on the appearance of a pond which Arrieta  has filled with colorful animals huddled atop columns. 

(l.)Cheryl Maeder (C.); Wall videos and animals from "Enchanted" 
(R) ​Diane Arrieta and April Klimley outside the "Enchanted" installation

On the far wall, Maeder’s largest video transports viewers deep into a forest. Additional videos on the side walls show show people in inner tubes riding down a river. At first, the scene conveys a feeling a paradise. But there is an undercurrent of menace. The animals seem scared  by the rising waters below them, and the inner tubes of the swimmers appear stuck in murky, swampy water. Something seems to be  encroaching on the harmonious world of nature and threatening it. It's easy to conclude that the "something" lurking behind this scene and threatening it is the work of humans and civilization.     

IF YOU GO: “Flora” remains open through September 9 at the Cornell Art Museum at 51 North Swinton Ave., in Delray Beach, Fl. Summer Hours: Thursday through Saturday 10 am to 5 pm Sundays 1 to 5 pm. For more information go to www.oldschoolsquare.org/about/cornell-museum/