Saatchi Gallery Announces 2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden with Artist Zak Ové
Zak Ové. Courtesy of the artist and Gallery 1957.
Open to the public at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 21-25 May 2024.
Saatchi Gallery is thrilled to announce its participation in the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 with a groundbreaking collaboration featuring the acclaimed British Caribbean artist Zak Ové. This unique partnership promises to blend the worlds of contemporary art and horticulture in an unprecedented display of creativity and innovation.
Zak Ové, celebrated for his captivating sculptures and installations that explore themes of heritage, identity, and cultural syncretism, will lend his visionary perspective to transform the traditional notions of garden design. Drawing inspiration from his rich Caribbean heritage and his fascination with the intersection of nature and culture, Ové will craft an immersive garden experience that challenges conventions and sparks dialogue.
Saatchi Gallery commissions multi-disciplinary artist Zak Ové for its annual garden at Chelsea Flower Show. The collaboration between Saatchi Gallery and Zak Ové represents a fusion of art, nature, and culture, inviting visitors to engage with the garden space in unexpected ways. Ové's signature sculptural elements, infused with Caribbean motifs and symbolism, will intertwine seamlessly with lush botanical arrangements, creating a dynamic visual tapestry that celebrates diversity and interconnectedness. Featuring Ové’s Invisible Man sculptures, the garden will invite visitors to explore a Black Diasporic journey. Three distinct sections take influence from Africa, the Caribbean and the UK.
The Saatchi Gallery's participation in the RHS Chelsea Flower Show marks a significant milestone in its commitment to pushing boundaries and challenging conventions in the realm of contemporary art. By bringing together the talents of Zak Ové and the gallery's curatorial expertise, this collaboration promises to captivate and inspire audiences, reaffirming the power of art and nature to unite and inspire.
Zak Ové (b. 1966, London. Lives and works in Las Palmas, Canary Islands) is a British-Caribbean artist with a multi-disciplinary practice across sculpture, film and photography. His work is informed in part through the history and lore carried through the African Diaspora to the Caribbean, Britain and beyond with particular focus on traditions of masking and masquerade as a tool of self emancipation. Ové’s artworks explore the interplay between old world mythology and what he posits as ‘potential futures’, a space where he reinterprets existence into the fantastical. Ové uses modern materials, a sound clash of Caribbean and African colour and the reinvention and appropriation of everyday objects to bring his characters and scenarios to life. His work is a celebration of the power of play, the spirit of imagination in the blurring of edges between reality and possibility, flesh and spirit. In this way, Ové seeks to re-write a history for the future through heralding the past in a new light.
Looking for a piece or want to learn more about this artist?
Instagram: @zakove
