From large-scale installations to curated galleries, we choose five interiors that understand the importance of telling a story through art.
Kate Lynn Lewis mural at WeWork Chicago
Maybourne Hotel Group co-owner Paddy McKillen was already procuring art pieces for the Red Room long before the space became a Bryan O’Sullivan-designed reality. The dusty-coloured walls play host to a variety of works by predominantly female artists, including a never-before-seen piece in watercolour, gouache and pencil by the late French-American Louise Bourgeois, California-based photographer Trina McKillen’s ‘Composition #8’ and Jenny Holzer’s ‘Benghazi’. ‘Scarlet Mist’ dominates another wall – an oil painting by the Vietnamese Tia-Thuy Nguyen, which was purchased by McKillen at the 2018 charity Red Auction in Miami.
Design consultancy ‘kin has revealed a bold new space for the global law firm’s Liverpool office, located on the city’s iconic Albert Docks.
Taylor Wessing serves the world’s most innovative people and businesses and wanted the design to be distinctive and inspirational, reflecting their innovative culture and long-standing commitment to the arts. ‘kin has delivered an interior that showcases cutting-edge technology and space that promotes teamwork and collaboration against a backdrop of imagery from the National Portrait Gallery, which the firm sponsors.
Artwork is displayed throughout the new offices, including winners of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, which act as visual markers around the space. The National Portrait Gallery’s ‘Hold Still’ exhibition is also featured; a series of photographs taken between May and June 2020 which created a unique collective portrait of the UK during the first lockdown.
Poland’s first design hotel group, Puro built its brand on its creative credentials. Early properties saw artwork collections commissioned by London-based duo Melita Skamnaki and Wilhlem Finger, of Double Decker, while subsequent openings were artistically helmed by in-house art consultant Zuzanna Zakaryan. But what has perhaps set Puro apart, is its commitment to flaunting local talent – both established contemporary artists and young, emerging names. Each location, then, becomes a snapshot of its surrounding cultural landscape through the artists it features, whether that’s Gdansk’s Michał Szlaga or Warsaw’s Tomasz Opaliński.
Chicago’s WeWork 448 North LaSalle St is housed across four floors in a newly constructed boutique office building designed in sleek 1960s modernism style. The art programme was designed to be an immersive amenity for both WeWork members and the local community. WeWork commissioned well-known Chicago artist Kate Lynn Lewis to create a colourful mural that pays homage to Chicago’s iconic Art Deco architecture, its ‘Windy City’ nickname, and the famed Lincoln Park Conservatory.
WeWork also partnered with Artlifting, an art consultancy company that sources works from artists impacted by homelessness or disabilities. These art pieces can be found in conference rooms throughout the space, including ‘Green II’, an abstract painting by Brian Rush that largely employs the colour green, ‘Sacred Geometry Turquoise’, by Alicia Sterling Beach, which is reminiscent of Hilma af Klint’s geometric symbolism, and ‘Wildflowers’, by Shannon R, a psychedelic vision of bright colours.
A design-led boutique hotel in central Oslo, The Thief boasts an impressive collection curated by Sune Nordgren – the former director of Norway’s National Museum of Art. Richard Prince’s forceful ‘Cowboy’ greets guests on arrival – a vision of unbridled vitality and energy – while an instantly recognisable cast iron Antony Gormley figure is bent over, in surrender or humility, on the pavement outside. Pieces by Damien Hirst, Niki de Saint Phalle and Nate Lowman all equally elevate the lobby from hangout space to living exhibition, encouraging visitors to mull on any artistic meaning over a coffee or cocktail.
Feeling inspired? See more spaces that celebrate the art of interiors here.
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