Domus Launch Party

Today saw the launch of the new Domus showroom at 50 Great Sutton Street in Clerkenwell, London. Working closely with Sam Frith and David Kong I co-curated the art exhibition side of the venue's launch. Domus has gone for an industrial and relaxed look but clearly haven't tried to fill every nook and cranny of their new space with their products, so the artwork that is on display doesn't look boxed in. Although not an art gallery, Domus Clerkenwell has a planned programme of integrated art exhibitions and the artwork currently on show is by Julian Wild, Gary Martin and myself. One of Julian's 'System' sculptures (a sphere made from copper pipes) is situated above and to the right of the fire place in the outside court yard, whilst Gary's 'Sink and Swim' sculptures that look like inflated arm bands can be found downstairs, aptly placed upon Domus' corner section of a swimming pool.

As Domus' main clients are architects, my 'And When I'm a Man' sculpture seemed the most fitting piece to show since it closely mirrors the preiser figures (some of which I noticed were used to decorate this year's Domus Christmas tree) that populate many an architectural model. And to coincide with the launch my sculpture also got a bit of a make-over. Over the years the piece had suffered a couple of knocks whilst in storage so now felt like the right time to sand it down, strengthen the joints, re-fill them and then give it a shiny new re-spray.

One of the many nice touches at today's launch was the group of waiters and waitresses that caught everyone off guard when they unexpectedly burst into song. They all had amazing operatic voices and the acoustics of the space seemed pretty darn good too.

DOMUS

If any of you have walked along Great Sutton Street in Clerkenwell, London recently there’s a fair chance that you will have seen what I’ve been up to on the side of a 35 metre long hoarding. No, I’ve not decided to try my hand at being a street artist (I’ll leave that other, more stealthy characters) – instead I’ve been commissioned by Domus to decorate the hoarding that currently covers the front of their new and soon to be completed showroom.

Domus is the leading UK supplier and specification advisers of tile, mosaic and stone solutions for commercial and residential projects and as well as displaying a massive selection of their fine wares the new showroom will also incorporate a large gallery space for the exhibition of artwork. As well as designing and painting the hoarding (with a lot of help from fellow artists and friends, Sam Frith, Lola Gunn, David Kong and others) for Domus and have also been asked me to curate the exhibition space once it opens.

To coincide with the opening of the new showroom and because their main clients tend to be architects, Domus have commissioned artist, Jessica Walters, to create thirty 45cm tall miniature sculptures based upon the small figures that populate architectural models. These figures (all modelled on Domus employees) are being positioned in public spaces around the city and three of them can already be found high up on the wall of the building opposite the showroom, nestling in some old fireplaces that were exposed during the WWII bombings.

To see the work in progress for both the building site and the hoarding check out Steve Charles’ photos.