Paloma Mayorgas: The Gorgeous Flowers Have a Smell

• Sat, Dec 7, 2024 - Sat, Feb 22, 2025  6pm

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The Gorgeous Flowers Have a Smell is an installation by Austin-based artist, Paloma Mayorga, that draws inspiration from Edward Gorey’s cautionary tale, The Evil Garden. Composed of wax doll figurines embedded with baby’s breath flowers, paired with printed online articles documenting the global impact of one particular flower company, this installation explores the hidden costs of the flower industry, exposing how convenience-driven capitalist systems thrive on environmental exploitation, labor inequities, settler colonialism, and genocide.

The gorgeous flowers have a smell is a solo an exhibition featured as part of the 2024 Texas Biennial curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Ashley Dehoyos Sauder, and Coka Treviño. The Texas Biennial is a geographically-led, independent survey of contemporary art in Texas. The program was founded in 2005 by Austin nonprofit Big Medium to provide an exhibition opportunity open to all artists living and working in the state. The eighth edition of this program will take place in 2024, making the Texas Biennial the longest-running state biennial in the country. Since its inception, the program has brought the work of over 300 artists to new audiences, springboarding many artists’ careers and underscoring the diversity of contemporary practice in Texas.