Anne von Freyburg | Filthy Cute | Saatchi Gallery London

Anne von Freyburg's sensational new work mines art history to illustrate how cultural appropriation, fetish objects, and colonial sensibilities span centuries. In particular, she looks at famous 17th-century Dutch Rococo flower still-life paintings by Jan van Huysum and other period artists to inquire about who consumes what and at whose expense. By investigating an historic peak of consumer culture and globalism, she uncovers dark secrets behind coveted delicacies from faraway places. To exaggerate these notions of excess, her textile paintings are full-blown installations of irregular shape, dripping with saturated colors that intoxicate the viewer and intentionally range from sublime to garish. They are deconstructed still-life paintings where color connotes liberty and threatens disorder. Viewers are invited to lose themselves in desire. 

If you look closely at Tuttifrutti, you'll see a mixture of snake prints, ornaments, exotic birds, fruit, and cutout flowers, all of which point to their origins in China and Persia. The work is partly a post-colonial critique underscoring the West's exotification of foreign objects and florals. It's no coincidence that von Freyburg was born in Holland and is speculating about the Dutch Golden Age of painting, science, and trade.

The work Kabloom, already acquired by a museum in Florida, has strong references to pop art and culture, which emphasize the commodity aspect of still lives.

Anne von Freyburg's reputation soars with two exhibitions at London's acclaimed Saatchi Gallery.  Flowers – Flora In Contemporary Art & Culture (February 12 - May 5, 2025) marks Anne's third group exhibition at Saatchi while Filthy Cute (March 28 - May 11, 2025) puts her squarely in the spotlight with a solo exhibition.