Coded Blooms | flowers have never been innocent

CODED BLOOMS begins with the American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whose flower photographs form the exhibition’s conceptual anchor.

Pat BRASSINGTON Annunciation #2 2025, 65.0 x 55.0 cm, pigment ink-jet print, courtesy of the artist, ARC ONE Gallery (Melbourne), Bett Gallery (Hobart)
Pat BRASSINGTON Annunciation #2 2025, 65.0 x 55.0 cm, pigment ink-jet print, courtesy of the artist, ARC ONE Gallery (Melbourne), Bett Gallery (Hobart)

Drawn from the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, these works establish a charged framework for a contemporary rereading of the floral.

In Mapplethorpe’s hands, the bloom becomes sculptural, erotic and exacting, stripped of sentiment and sharpened into form.

From this point, four artists push the floral beyond polite still life traditions into unruly and intimate terrain. Pat Brassington, Del Kathryn Barton, Jake Preval and Meng-Yu Yan each approach the flower as a site of psychological tension, bodily presence and relational meaning. Here, petals, shadows and surfaces operate as signals, carrying what is hidden, forbidden or quietly radical.

Exhibition launch
Saturday 7 March 1pm to 3pm
with opening remarks from Del Kathryn Barton. 

Runs from: 7 March – 24 May 2026

 

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

May

Melbourne: Until March 2027. Rehearsing the City presents archival photographs from Victoria’s government collections, alongside new work by contemporary street photographers.

June

Sydney: Until 7 Feb 2027. From his archive of more than 200,000 images, Close Up celebrates the historic moments and pivotal people he famously captured.

Brisbane: until 18 October 2026. Known affectionately as the ‘Cool Cat of journalism’ Wayne moved effortlessly among the greats, between the media and community, treating every encounter as part of his day’s work behind the lens.

July

Melbourne: Until 30 September 2026. Melbourne photographer Stefanie Wendler-Canning is inviting visitors to see one of the garden's most familiar flowers from an entirely different perspective in her new exhibition.

August

Melbourne: Until 15 November 2026. This exhibition will present the most comprehensive survey of the work of the eminent Hungarian-born, French photographer Brassaï yet to be seen in Australia.

Brisbane: Until 1 November 2026. The finalist exhibition of the 2026 Lord Mayor’s Photographic Awards brings together striking photographic works that capture the city’s spirit — from familiar streets and riverside scenes to the fleeting moments, routines and characters that make Brisbane feel like home.

Sydney: 24 August 2026 – 18 July 2027. Featuring almost 200 images and original prints personally selected by Dupain for magazine and book publishers, the exhibition reveals the extraordinary breadth of his work.

September

Melbourne: Until 19 February 2027. Spanning 55 years from 1971, Chapman’s visual journey began aboard the ‘Green Bus’ from Elsternwick to Melbourne’s city centre – chronicling the evolution of Australian life along the way.

October

Perth: Until 31 January 2027. The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) presents No night is long enough for us to dream twice, a major exhibition of contemporary photography and video, bringing together more than 100 works by seven living artists and one artist duo from across South West Asia, North Africa and its many diasporas.