The world-leading fashion and fine jewellery houses across Bond Street are joining forces with the Royal Academy of Arts for the sixth year in their annual showcase of art and culture. This year’s Art in Mayfair will be larger than ever before, with the tailors of Savile Row taking part for the second year alongside the unique brands of Mount Street, North and South Audley Street and Duke Street who all join for the first time.
Timed to coincide with the Royal Academy’s 255th Summer Exhibition, Art in Mayfair will run from 12 June – 9 July 2023, as an immersive arts festival in celebration of the area’s vibrant arts and cultural scene.
This year, world-renowned contemporary artist Bob and Roberta Smith RA – whose best known work includes Make Art Not War – has been invited to create the unique Art in Mayfair flags. Entitled ‘A puzzle 4U’, these will hang above Bond Street, Mount Street, North Audley Street, South Audley Street and Duke Street. Upon first look, the flag artworks present a jumble of letter forms arranged in different combinations, which leaves the public to try and decipher the meaning themselves. On the reverse side, walking back down the streets of Mayfair in the other direction, the slogan is revealed. The puzzle itself will be unveiled for the first time when the flag artworks go up throughout Mayfair on 12 June.
Bob and Roberta Smith RA says the inspiration behind the project is that it should be “a genuinely playful experience in amongst all of the hullabaloo of central London.” He goes on to say: “I have always been obsessed with letter forms and words and what slogans mean – what is it that people try to say when they come up with a slogan or a phrase? Do they really mean what they say? Language is such a beautiful thing, made up of these 26 shapes. Throughout my whole life, that notion has preoccupied me quite a bit.”
Frances Corner OBE’s, authored an essay for the launch of Art in Mayfair called ‘Living at the Crossroads of Fashion and Art’ which explores the symbiotic relationship between fashion and art as well as Bond Street’s physical demonstration of this relationship, where galleries and fashion houses exist side by side: “When you look around London, exhibitions unpack fashion history and fashion boutiques are styled like exhibitions. Where once fashion and art came together in certain institutions, cities or even streets, now that merging is everywhere.”
Mayfair’s most iconic brands and designers will also collaborate with the area’s galleries and their world-renowned artists to host a series of pop-up exhibitions, showcases, talks and masterclasses. The festival will transform the neighbourhood into a live exhibition in recognition of Mayfair’s rich art heritage.
Art will continue to spill out onto Bond Street and for the first time this year, across Mayfair too, including Savile Row, Mount Street, Duke Street and North and South Audley Street. Mayfair will play host to an outdoor sculpture trail, creating an immersive art experience like no other, where visitors can explore both the temporary and permanent artworks set throughout the destination. Trails from previous years have included work by Gavin Turk, Kojo Marfo, David Breuer Weil, Robert Indiana and Lee Gil Rae.
Katie Thomas, Associate Director at Bond Street & Mayfair, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating the collaborative working relationship between art and fashion for our sixth year, working once again with the Royal Academy of Arts – an incredible institution located right on our doorstep. We have seen some great examples of the coming together of art and fashion recently, including Louis Vuitton’s Bond Street installations for their partnership with Yayoi Kusama, and further afield, Dior’s recent exhibition of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne’s work. As always, our hope for Art in Mayfair is to open a door into the worlds of art and fashion, which can easily feel inaccessible or alienating at times. The two are without doubt having a real moment and we are excited to see what our luxury houses have in store this year for Art in Mayfair.”
Full details of this year’s Art in Mayfair programme, including participating designers and artists, coming soon at https://www.bondstreet.co.uk/
