For an artist who usually hides behind a gas mask and gloves, Mr. Flower Fantastic is having a very public moment.
The anonymous floral artist has worked with Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, Nike, Louis Vuitton and Netflix. Recently, when the Chicago Bulls retired Derrick Rose’s jersey number, he covered an outdoor basketball court with a portrait of the former point guard made of roses and carnations.
“It took thousands of flowers to pull this off, in the middle of winter. In Chicago,” Mr. Flower Fantastic told NPR. “It was really special.”
Hundreds of people lined up in the cold to see it.
Mr. Flower Fantastic, who says he often goes by “MFF” or “Flower,” stays anonymous because he wants the focus on the work. He usually wears a gas mask and gloves in public, which hide his identity and protect his health. He is allergic to flowers.
But while showing an NPR reporter around the New York Botanical Garden’s conservatory for his new show, he wore no mask and no gloves.
A lifelong New Yorker, Mr. Flower Fantastic said he saw the garden’s invitation to collaborate on its annual orchid show as a chance to step out from behind his secret identity and share the city the way he sees it, finding beauty in ordinary structures.
Inside the conservatory, that includes a dumpster painted matte black and filled with white moth orchids and English ivy. It includes a manhole cover framed with arcs of purple and yellow moth orchids, yellow slipper orchids and pink and white Dancing Lady orchids. And it includes a car wash with a taxi driving through it, made of synthetic and real carnations.
“My favorite flower, a lot of people don’t know this, is a carnation,” Mr. Flower Fantastic told NPR. “Oftentimes, it gets overlooked. It’s quite common, but it’s capable of extraordinary things with a bit of creativity.”
He said he learned to love flowers with his mother in her garden in Jamaica, Queens, and during visits to Jamaica, where they have family.
“She’s the one that shared the gift of gardening with me. We did have a garden in our yard and it was beautiful. Not only was the garden beautiful, but just the time spent together was beautiful and important and nurturing, all of those things that go into creating a garden. Time, patience, love, care. Those were values that were put into me at an early age through her.”
He said his mother comes to see the show every day.
Mr. Flower Fantastic is a former graffiti artist, and one of his tags appears in the show recreated in flowers. When he first started working with flowers, he said he sometimes left his designs on the street as gifts for others and posted clues to their locations for his Instagram followers.
He said he did not originally expect flowers to become part of his professional work. He saw the garden as a place for family, calm and peace.
But that changed over time.
“You start to think about what you’re doing with the time that you have. And, you know, for many people that have kids, that’s amazing because that’s proof that you existed. But for some people who don’t, what other good can they put into the world? This is my way of kind of saying that I was here.”
In 2018, Serena Williams’ agent contacted him and asked him to create a large-scale sneaker in flowers to mark the launch of her Nike “Queen” Air Max 97. He collaborated with fashion designer Virgil Abloh and said that shaped the way he approached his art.
“He would do a deep dive on everything and anything, really moving the needle in a beautiful way. He was a giver.”
Mr. Flower Fantastic presented the sculpture to Williams at the U.S. Open. He said his career took off after that.
Now his studio sits on a 10-acre property north of Manhattan, where he and his team create installations for brands and people around the globe. He said he is interested in sculpture, photography, film and set design. He wanted the New York Botanical Garden show, called The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle, to feel immersive, like a film set, so the installations are life-sized.
About 85 people were involved in producing it, with most of them from the New York Botanical Garden.
“It’s a beautiful way to introduce myself authentically. When people come to this show, they are coming through a portal, a time capsule, if you will. A lot of the stops along the way are moments in my life that I believe my creativity really flourished and bloomed,” he said.
He also said the place is empty without the people who bring it life.
“When you’re here, you’re family. We’re experiencing this show together.”
“I’m about celebrating moments, and flowers help me to do that, right? They show up in moments of celebration. They show up in moments where comfort is needed.”
He told NPR that working with flowers this way “has been about the opportunity to be trusted, by the universe, by God, by Mother Nature … it is an amazing responsibility and incredible honor. And I couldn’t think of anything else that would give me so much joy.”
Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle is at the New York Botanical Garden in New York City through April 26.
📸 credit: New York Botanical Garden
