Did you catch Miller’s striking Flower Flashes around the city?
The genius behind New York‘s iconic flower installations worked his magic overseas for the first time, briefly bringing a series of gorgeous floral displays to London. Lewis Miller’s ‘Flower Flashes’ are known to appear in random New York City places, such as trash cans, hot dog stalls, and taxi cabs. For a short time, Londoners were able to admire some of his incredible work on our streets, as the city began reopening for the summer.
In partnership with UK artist Simon Lycett and Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk, Miller transformed more than 12,000 fresh blooms from Covent Garden Flower Market into imposing flower installations, which were then set up in three locations across London. His incredible work decocrated the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus, a couple of classic red phone boxes on the south side of Great Windmill Street, and an unassuming Brick Lane bin.
His Flower Flashes aim to bring joy to passersby by adding floral explosions of colour and life to otherwise mundane places around town. This is the first time Miller has graced a city outside of his beloved home of New York with his renowned flower displays, and we’re honoured he chose us!
However, there’s one catch: Since the flowers are fresh, they don’t tend to last very long, especially with temperatures rising. In fact, the public are even encouraged to pick and create their own personal takeaway bouquets from the installations, so chances are, they’re long gone by now… Where can we sign a petition to have them appear regularly?
While they may not be a permanent feature in London just yet, there is hope, as Miller seems to have enjoyed his trip to our city: “I started Flower Flashes back in 2016 with a very simple ambition; to create moments of natural beauty in unexpected parts of the city. Getting the opportunity to ‘flash’ such an iconic landmark as Eros is a career highlight; next stop Buckingham Palace!” Fingers crossed!