Hauser & Wirth’s Savile Row Gallery: A Contemporary Art Haven in the Heart of London
Hospital Rooms, founded by artist Tim A Shaw and curator Niamh White, strives to transform clinical mental health environments into creative sanctuaries.
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In an exciting collaboration with the mental health charity, Hospital Rooms, Hauser & Wirth London's North Gallery is set to host Holding Space this summer. This multisensory exhibition builds upon last year's successful joint venture, Like there is hope and I can dream of another world, marking the continuation of their three-year partnership. Holding Space invites visitors into an immersive world created from elements derived from artist programs within NHS mental health services. Expect a captivating blend of commissioned artworks, mixed media pieces and site-specific installations that fill the gallery.
The roster of talented artists includes Valerie Asiimwe Amani, Sutapa Biswas, Victoria Cantons, Rachael Champion, Giles Deacon, Alvin Kofi, Katharine Lazenby, Richard Mark Rawlins, Jonathan Trayte, Richard Wentworth, and Abbas Zahedi. Additionally, the Hospital Rooms Lived Experience Team and the National Opera Studio, in collaboration with South West London Recovery College Students, contribute their creative prowess. Sutapa Biswas' monumental mural, originally designed for Springfield University Hospital, will envelop the gallery space.
Abbas Zahedi's magnetic sun, a product of collaboration with patients in forensic services, features kinetic poetry authored by individuals with lived experiences of mental health services. Throughout the exhibition, visitors can recline on large-scale beds and cushions crafted by artists Alvin Kofi, Victoria Cantons, Valerie Asiimwe Amani, Giles Deacon, Richard Mark Rawlins, and Katharine Lazenby. They can gaze up at a ceiling installation by Richard Wentworth while encountering sculptural works by Rachael Champion and illuminated sculptures by Jonathan Trayte.
Exhibition hall, Hospital Rooms. Holding Space in the North Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Savile Row London
Hospital Rooms’s vision is a world where individuals with severe and enduring mental health diagnoses have access to meaningful creative opportunities, and mental health hospitals offer solace, comfort, and dignity through innovative cultural spaces.
The Hospital Rooms 2023 Summer Auction, hosted by Bonhams, promises a rich collection of donated artworks. Martin Creed, Chantal Joffe, Do Ho Suh, and Caroline Walker have contributed original pieces, and Hurvin Anderson is donating two preparatory works from his Hospital Rooms commission at Springfield University Hospital. Hauser & Wirth artists Martin Creed, Charles Gaines, Catherine Goodman, and Allison Katz have also generously contributed new works that align with the exhibition's theme for the online auction.
The current exhibition in the North Gallery, on display until Tuesday, September 12th.
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A stark contrast between the public image of tradition and civic pride, and the reality of a city grappling with profound economic and social inequality.