A Fresh Look at sculpture

RHS commissions 3.8m sculptures to celebrate Fresh

Three striking sculptural towers have been commissioned by the RHS as a landmark for visitors to find the Fresh Gardens area. These beacons in the orange and grey Fresh livery will rise high above the heads of the showgoers to a height of 3.8m. The delicate filigree cutout cylinders are made from hand-painted steel and each one features the same vibrant colour scheme and similar images but with a different colourway.

Dahlias as you’ve never seen them before

The inspiration for Jo Chapman, the artist who designed the sculptures, was to reinvent a traditional, old-fashioned flower (in this case a dahlia), so the pattern relates to the shape and structure of the flowers.
Jo has extended the design theme to include the logo and signage for the Fresh Gardens so everything is tied together.

Chance meeting in France

Jo was exhibiting at Chaumont Garden Festival in France last year, when she ran into Alex Denman, Chelsea Show Manager, who was there on the Chaumont Selection Committee for this year’s gardens. Alex was already thinking about the new Fresh Gardens category and saw an opportunity to commission some of Jo’s work to herald the gardens and celebrate the introduction of the new category.

This exciting commission is another example of the innovative additions being made by the RHS at Chelsea this year to make this year’s show even more momentous.