A remarkable art collection

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In the lobby be sure to look up. Look around. The hotel’s art collection is in unusual places. Just as the artists themselves have very different backgrounds and connections to the contemporary art movement and marketplace.

Can you find the space invader? There are several in the collection.

Invader, the artist, was born in 1969 and so grew up playing Pac-Man, which he appropriates into his now globally recognized pixelated ceramic tile mosaics and drawings. Using a pseudonym, this French street artist boasts a “world invasion” on his website, locating his ‘invader’ artwork in streets and alleys of 86 territories. While traveling, be sure to look for invader’s stamp. While at the hotel, try to locate all 17 of his artworks.

Ok let’s look at the variety of sculptural expressions. I love that sculpture affords us the experience of art in the round, meaning that we can physically walk around the work and experience it from different perspectives, with different visual backgrounds.

Julian Opie’s series of disembodied heads that have been reduced to flat shapes with nondescript features is a playful take on the idea of a bust. Historically, the bust would present someone of historical acclaim with recognizable features. Here Opie casts his figures with cookie cutter shapes and outlines that suggest the figure is looking down to the device, echoing the guest’s behavior on the couch.

Very differently, Anish Kapoor’s 2017 ‘Mirror’, appears a simple red bowl that may well accompany the black dog’s head above it. This is a playful placement of artwork. Kapoor’s bowl is in fact an interactive sculpture beckoning us to look closely and experience the inversion effect of the concave design. Careful— for some this creates a feeling of vertigo. How remarkable that sculpture can have this effect.

Yoshimoto Nara’s massive black puppy head points across the room the the author’s story of a child discovering a new pet on another planet and bringing it home. The large scale of the head with its gentle smile may remind us of the best friend we have at home or the Charles Schulz Snoopy character. The scale and static nature of the work serves as an effective juxtaposition with the other artworks in the room.

In the corner, Daniel Arsham’s Storm Trooper holds court. Star Wars fans will enjoy posing with this iconic film character, the storm trooper. This soldier of the Empire appears to act on our defense as we enter and exit the main doors of the hotel. Like the astronaut in the front courtyard, artist Daniel Arsham has intentionally eroded his realistic depiction of this figure and inserted crystal prisms in its recesses. By appropriating the storm trooper into his original sculpture, Arsham follows in the tradition of manipulating pre-existing images, objects, and ideas, an artistic strategy that radicalized the art world in the early 20^th century.

Taking center stage from the entry perspective is the artwork of Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei Wei with his elegant wooden sculpture ‘Divina Proportione”. As the title suggests, the artist is referencing Renaissance studies in perspective and geometry. It’s all math, as the artist colludes with the mathematical treatise by Luca Pacioli c. 1509, illustrated by Leonardo da Vinci. This object also echoes the common cat toy, took a year to make and contains no nails.

Look up to discover the glass work of the Verhoeven Twins. A series of bubbles that have escaped the child’s toy, hovering impossibly overhead. The simplicity of these iridescent forms disguises the decade long effort by the brothers working with glass technicians on the island of Murano, Italy. From the upper balcony you will experience the bubbles close-up and better appreciate the oily shimmering effect of the glass. Stunning work aptly titled ‘Moments of Happiness’.

Challenging the definition of sculpture is British artist Rana Bagum, with her installation ‘No. 1029’ made up of 30 rectangular shapes. Like suspended piano keys, these shapes create distinct atmospheres depending on the angle of viewing. From one side, we have the sense of a peaceful melody, and from the other a concert of energy.

The colors are echoed in the camouflage artwork series by Andy Warhol, above the bar entrance. One of the successes of this private art collection is that it can present a series in total. This allows us to experience the artist’s experimentation with color and shape. Here Warhol subverts the camouflage, a connotation of warfare, with a palette that comes off as playful.

If we observe the folds, this 1968 Prince Charles series by David Hockney was likely discovered in a file cabinet. While many of us know Hockney primarily for landscape paintings, these illustrations remind us that Hockney also delves in portraiture, which, in this instance, was rejected by Time magazine. Nevertheless, we have rather humorous depictions of the gentleman invested as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester in 1958 (then formally in 1969), and now the King of England. Revealed in the hotel’s collection just prior to King Charles’s coronation, this work demonstrates savvy collecting and nods to Jonathon Yeo’s contemporary portrait of the King in the second level Trudeau Ballroom.

American artist Shepherd Fairey pays tribute to Ai Wei Wei in a portrait that conveys a sense of pride and power. This placement decision is so smart. We now have a face to the sculptor and an elegant connection between two artists who have dedicated the lion share of their practices to social justice.

This theme is echoed in the work of American artist activist Keith Haring. ‘Statue of Liberty’ is a timeless reference to the defense of democracy, while giving us insight into the hearts of the collectors. The Keith Haring Foundation, started by the artist in 1989, continues to provide philanthropic assistance to those affected by HIV/AIDS.

By contrast, successful fashion illustrator Holly Nichols captures the carefree bliss of feminine elegance on a scooter. The playful spirit of Nichols’s work may remind viewers of Audrey Hepburn’s iconic Vespa riding Roman Holiday.

Radical street artist and art world disruptor BANKSY fits neatly into this circle. This image of the child and heart shaped balloon is iconic of a portfolio that provides social commentary on how we treat each other – in this case the subject may be interpreted as the innocence of youth punctured by loss.

BANKSY echoes this theme in the “TV Snow Boy”, an artwork on the way to the front desk reception. The snow on the screen could be the joyful winter substance or the ash falling from a smelt factory. Artists like BANKSY are interrogating society, using satire to make us laugh, cry, and reflect, while establishing a new art market built directly from the street.

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