Art at Westbourne by paulsmithspace

Art at Westbourne House

Since the earliest days of Paul Smith, our shops have taken a pioneering approach to their use of space, blurring the line between traditional retail and art gallery. An inveterate collector and natural curator, Sir Paul is forever on the lookout for artwork, antiques, furniture and other curiosities which speak to him, and he is eager to share his unique taste with his customers, incorporating items from his extensive archive into the design and layout of each Paul Smith shop.

At Westbourne House you will be able to find a unique and ever-changing assortment of artwork and furniture. Westbourne House will also periodically plays host to temporary exhibitions, featuring work by some of Sir Paul’s favourite artists.

Beatrice Meoni

Beatrice Meoni (Florence, 1960) lives and works in Italy. After graduating in foreign literature, Beatrice Meoni (Florence, 1960) acquired further training by working with theatrical troupes and acclaimed stage designers that complemented her work as a scenery painter and designer for poetry, opera, and dance productions right from the start.

In recent years, she has been concentrating primarily on painting, experimenting with linguistic possibilities of painting.

Among her latest shows: Pittura italiana oggi, curated by Damiano Gullì, Triennale Milano (2023); Quadri come luoghi, curated by Davide Ferri, Palazzo Adorni, Capriolo (2023); Luce ovunque, z2o project, Rome (2022); Trattare l’aria, EXATR, XVIII Festival Internazionale delle Arti dal vivo Forlì, curated by Davide Ferri, Forlì (2022); Io dico Io - I say I, curated by Cecilia Canziani, Lara Conte and Paola Ugolini, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome (2021).

DOMUS MEUS

The studio is the place where I spend most of my time. There, lots of little things and thoughts and paintings happen. During these months I’ve captured the studio’s life and its mess in my works.

Beatrice Meoni

Sedia Gialla, 2024 £575.00

Oil on panel 13 x 18 cm

Beatrice Meoni

StudioStanza Blue, 2024 £1,625.00

Oil on panel

50 x 40 cm

Beatrice Meoni

Studio, 2024

Oil on panel 35 x 24.6 cm

Beatrice Meoni

Studio-tela, 2024

Oil on canvas 40 x 30 cm

Beatrice Meoni

Marilyn Hallam

Marilyn Hallam was born in Yorkshire in 1947. She studied fine art at the University of Reading where she met and married the painter Clyde Hopkins. She lives and works in south east London and St Leonards-onSea and has a space in the APT Studios in Deptford. Through a career spanning five decades, Marilyn Hallam has consistently produced thoughtful, intelligent painting, sourcing the luminosity and touch of Matisse and Bonnard and the collaged construction of more contemporary painters.

I have always admired and been fascinated by the intricate, slow way that Marilyn builds her paintings. Looking in on her various studios over the years I marvel at the layers of drawing, tracing and photocopying, the collaging and reconstruction that goes on. This exploratory work accumulates and is sifted through, well before she begins to paint on canvas. That is what intrigues me - how her search leads to resolution, her preparation to realisation. The completed paintings are airy, with light flowing through them, and for all their complexity they are vividly direct, immediately radiant.

Going into the studio, I could wish that, after all these years, I had a system or failsafe mechanism that would allow me to execute daily portions of work in a finite and cumulative manner. However … I am always glad that I do not have this safety-net, though I am slow and timid without it.

Marilyn Hallam 1998

At a time when the visual arts can seem dominated by populism and the cult of personality, it is startling to find an artist talking about her work with such naked honesty. This determined rejection of a reliance on habituation or a repertoire of manners, is likewise true of the work itself. One consequence is that each painting comes as a surprise, each with its own resolution of convincing pictorial identity. Another is that, despite Hallam’s doubts, the continuity which unifies this oeuvre has the strength of a steel cable, marked by a series of works of impressive conviction.