Shara Hughes

Shara Hughes’ first UK museum exhibition was displayed at the Garden Museum, London from 17 May – 6 June 2021, in partnership with Pilar Corrias Gallery. The exhibition brought together a group of new site specific paintings and works on paper by the New York-based artist, a series of large-scale flower paintings which will hang together in the Nave, a vast space at the heart of the Museum.

For this exhibition, Hughes took a more pointed approach to the imaginative landscapes that have defined her practice as she looked to reinvigorate and reimagine a more specific element of her painterly trope. The four paintings centre on a number of flowers, from the umbrella orchid to poppies, which are remarkably spirited and distinctly grandiose, broadening the artist’s prolific and expansive career. The naturally small flowers are scaled up in these regal paintings, exuding a striking beauty and radiant attraction that draws the viewer in, while also serving as intimate portraits of Hughes herself.