Art in Bloom 2015

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Pablo Picasso

ART IN BLOOM 2015

Minneapolis Institute of Arts 100th birthday 2015.

The floral display featured below pays tribute to this special occasion. 

This is the 32nd Art in Bloom four day annual rite of spring event. It features over 150 arrangements designed to interpret the diverse art works in the museum's collection. The biggest eye catching sculpture was Eros outside the entrance of the museum. 

With his dark eyes and wavy bronze hair, a monumental head of “Eros,” the Greek god of love, is destined to be a signature attraction at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where it was temporarily installed this week.

The museum is asking the public to help pay for the $1 million sculpture by Polish-born Igor Mitoraj in celebration of the museum’s 100th birthday this year.
The hollow bronze head is 12 feet long, 7 feet tall and weighs about 4,000 pounds.
Made in 1999 at the artist’s studio in the northern Italian city of Pietrasanta, the sculpture is a poetic evocation of the beauty, suffering and fragility of human life. In classical mythology, Eros was often depicted as a blindfolded boy to signal the way people fall headlong into the passion of love. In Mitoraj’s interpretation, Eros is older and the blindfold has fallen from his eyes, a hint that he has seen something of life’s inevitable tragedy, too.
“The bandages are the expression of my past in Poland, where even now there is still a great deal of suffering,” Mitoraj once said.

Eros is a massive eye catching sculpture.

This year's Art in Bloom did not disappoint.  I am continually amazed each year at the creativity these artists and florists display. Each artist/florist draws their inspiration from a particular piece of art and strives to replicate the lines, movement, color, textural design and theme by creating a floral homage. Artists paid particular attention to their containers as many were original pieces specifically designed for this display.     

 

Art piece and a matching floral display

This floral piece drew the biggest crowds. It was well over 5 feet and composed of all floral materials. 

Titled: Your Dog the fire hydrant is comprised of all flowers and is whimsy approach to this dog sculpture.

   A writing desk that dates back to 17th century.

This floral display was quite detailed with the additions of notepaper, pen holder and books artfully displayed with a splendid container that looked like the writing desk. 

 Minnesota Tornado

Titled: Girl with the Snake

I just happened upon this unusual metal sculpture while meandering through the exhibit. 

If you take a closer look it is made entirely from dog tags Vietnam War era

Quite the tribute. 

With 159 floral displays to enjoy and some 87 pictures taken it was a challenge to decide which ones to share. Art in Bloom is an annual event held the first weekend in May.