PETALS AND SPIKES
THEDRA CULLAR-LEDFORD
January 14 - February 18, 2023
HEIDI VAUGHAN FINE ART is proud to present Petals and Spikes, an exhibition of new paintings by Texas-artist and feminist activist Thedra Cullar-Ledford. The show opens on Saturday, January 14, 2023, and runs through Saturday, February 18, 2023.
Petals and Spikes continues the long, historic tradition of artists who find inspiration in flowers. Examples date to ancient cave paintings and Egyptian tombs, Medieval millefleur tapestries, works by Italian Renaissance artists, including masterpieces like Botticelli’s bountiful Primavera, to the still life paintings of Old Dutch Masters; from Monet’s 250 Water Lilies paintings to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers series, Klimt’s lush and exuberant flower garden paintings, to Matisse’s bouquets of flowers, the Pop flowers repeated by Warhol, and Murakami’s joyously smiling flowers, all the way to Koons’ gigantic balloon flowers of today.
Petals and Spikes presents figurative and abstract floral works and is the third solo show for the artist at HVFA. These latest works build on Thedra’s lively New York show at Prince Street Gallery in 2021, Smells Like Good Times, where colorful figurative paintings depicted post-quarantine happiness. Prior shows, including HVFA’s Dollies and Villains, which took place in September 2020 during the height of the masked times, presented political characters, themes, and the revulsions of then-current events. The important Lady Part Follies at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, exhibited in 2016, confronted the horrors of cancer, including the artist’s own battle with breast cancer. With Petals and Spikes, the artist has returned to calmness and the effervescent palette of Accoutrements, exhibited at HVFA in 2018, shifting from beautiful clothes and accessories then to the joys of flowers now.
