on the scene
INTERIOR DESIGNER AND HOTELIER KIT KEMP ON CONTEMPORARY CREATIVITY, UNEXPECTED INSTALLATIONS AND CELEBRITY RUN-INS
At first, I wasn’t sure that a collection of 52 baskets from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales wouldn’t be out of place installed as an artwork above my bar at The Whitby Hotel in Manhattan. When you think of fast-paced, frenetic New York, handweaving from the British Isles is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. And yet, there was something quite beautiful about a functional piece of work used in this way.
I sourced those baskets from The New Craftsmen, a gallery that has pioneered the placing of craft within the minefield that is the contemporary art market. I’ve never really known the difference between art and craft. Traditionally, makers were often unnamed while artists have always been closely associated with their work; motivation and meaning are as much a part of their practice as the final composition. Yet there are many fabulous makers out there and people enjoy collecting objects. There might not be room for sculptures, but ceramics, glass and woodwork can look wonderful in a gallery and home setting. So, suddenly those two worlds are colliding and makers are becoming better known.
This democratisation of art extends far beyond the craft debate.
Many creatives are finding themselves being brought into the fold. I visit graduate exhibitions looking for new work, but it’s not always conventional artists that I discover and sometimes you find yourself putting ideas into people’s minds. Take the laborious, and amazing, textiles of Natasha Hulse. She was a dress designer, but her work was unique and we asked her to make a headboard for us. The result was beautifully ornate; finished with collage, embroidery and beading. A different path appeared to her, and now her creations are mounted and sold as art.
There’s a wonderful passementerie maker called Elizabeth Ashdown. Her work is so intricate, and I suggested mounting the pieces in Perspex and hanging them as impressive, large-scale artwork. When Daniel Reynolds, a talented ceramicist, started making mobiles, I think we managed to acquire the first one. Earlier this year he displayed one with Cavaliero Finn gallery in Somerset House at the contemporary craft fair Collect. It’s lovely to watch artists develop.
When we put together collections for our hotels, I’ve found the most important thing is allowing a room to breathe. I’ve been to houses that have enormously expensive drop-dead art but, because it’s hung cheek by jowl with another amazing painting, you lose it. Instead, the focus should be on one sublime painting – usually an oil, because they’re so profound in colour and depth – and around it, place a mirror, watercolour or even a line drawing to avoid competition. It’s exactly the same with fabrics. You don’t want all linen; a room demands a mixture of textures.
A variety of media might be how best we display art in our homes, but this isn’t always how art is presented to the buying public. Art can be an intimidating thing, and visiting sterile galleries showing the work of one artist can be an off-putting experience. I love a salon environment, somewhere that feels much more inclusive. 8 Holland Street is one such welcoming place. It hosts talks and lectures and displays art, from oil paintings to hand-loomed wall hangings, alongside furniture and household items – a much better backdrop from which to imagine owning the art yourself.
That’s not to say there isn’t fun to be had in the contemporary art world. One of my favourite pieces in Firmdale’s collection is the Callum Innes work Exposed
Painting Cadmium Orange, which hangs just before a staircase at the Crosby Street Hotel, providing a striking hit of orange and black. I bought it at Art Basel in Switzerland and apparently when viewing it I had been standing next to Brad Pitt. I didn’t notice. Afterwards they asked me if I’d realised who it was and I said, ‘Oh hell, no!’ The painting, somehow, had captivated my full attention. That’s what art can do. I’m not looking for expensive work, but rather pieces that have a bit of soul, and you can find that anywhere, from anyone, at any age.
There’s something about seeing an artwork done by a loving hand that makes it that much more valuable
“I’ve never really known the difference between art and craft – now the two worlds are colliding”