Ibis Sleep Art is an unusual idea for an art exhibition – probably because you need to own a hotel for it to work. Eleven artists have been chosen to share their visual expression of sleep, half of them creating a piece of work after sleeping in a room in an Ibis Hotel. For the duration of the show the other half will take it in turns to sleep in the gallery, in a bed facing the big gallery window onto Percy Street. ‘I’m glad there were curtains,’ admitted Carne Griffiths, first of the artists to experience the ‘Sweet Bed’ in this unusual setting. After the night in the gallery each artist will produce a new work to add to the show, so the exhibition will grow as it goes on.
All the artists brought along their own media and have created something in their own typical styles. Each work has been created quickly, the time scale not allowing for much development. Rather than letting each artist bring their own materials It would have been interesting to see what each one created from what was already in the room – but that is a different project.
Rutie Borthwick, currently studying at the Slade has been inspired by the contents of the room. She has appropriated the pillows from her room, sketching on them but also arranging them against the wall in an inviting, huggable way. Saroj Patel’s fluid watercolour drawing appears to have developed Surrealist-style from watercolour blots whilst Bettina Stuurman’s swirling ‘The Creative Never Sleeps’ is a queasy maze of black and white gestures – I fear she had a bad dream.
Until 30th November
Gallery Different
14 Percy Street, London W1
Leave a Reply