Lollipop visits Art Week in London

Once a year, the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea host Art Week. Various locations in the middle of the city are artistically decorated. This year, this includes the Pleasure Garden by artists Baker & Borowski.

Photos: Bea Campbell

The Kensington and Chelsea neighborhoods are known for their artistic heritage and diversity. Creative places include the South Kensington Museum Quarter and the hustle and bustle of the Kings Road. The urban bohemia of Notting Hill is just as much a part of it as the modern elegance of the Design Museum. The route through the two districts of London is like a journey through history. This is exactly what Kensington and Chelsea Art Week takes up. It celebrates the rich local heritage and opens doors to creative places. The art activities are accompanied by leading organizations that care about public participation in local culture.

For a whole summer, Kensington and Chelsea Art Week in Londonoffers magical experiences. They range from live performances to art in public spaces. The festival aims to bring people together to celebrate and inspire. It attracts with a colourful programme of contributions from local, national and international artists, artistic communities and creative organizations. It will also showcase the talent of those who have been relegated to the backstage for the past two years. This year, the summer festival is finally back and welcomes everyone to explore art together.

Photos: Bea Campbell

This year, Kensington and Chelsea Art Week is working with artists Baker & Borowski, among others . They have designed an area on Warwick Road opposite Earls Court tube station. Where the Earls Court Exhibition Center used to be, the artists are now inviting visitors to a botanical wonderland: the Pleasure Garden. The artists have created a 35-meter-long mural painted with local wildflowers. They have also created sculptural forms, such as columns and a triumphal arch, which stand in the middle of the grounds.

Photos: Bea Campbell

The floor of the old exhibition space has also been changed. It takes up the colors of the ‘Summer of Love’ and its striped color scheme is reminiscent of 18th century pleasure gardens. The colorful striped floor is interrupted by green areas with tubs of trees. Here, too, the memory of formally designed gardens is evoked. However, the focus of Baker & Borowski’s artistic installation is on the current, contemporary view of nature in an urban context.

The themes of flora and fauna are traditionally closely associated with Chelsea. When you think of Chelsea and festivals, the famous Chelsea Flower Show quickly comes to mind. After all, it has been held regularly since the middle of the 19th century. Now it’s Kensington and Chelsea Art Week in London, which focuses on the local fauna and flora. And the artwork by Baker & Borowski transforms a formerly inaccessible area into a colorful public garden. As is often the case with their work, the two artists and curators, Lee Baker and Catherine Borowski, also create a surprise at this location. That is their mission. With their “outbursts” of art, as they call them, they want to bring urban landscapes to unexpected, everyday places.

This makes them a good fit for the Kensington and Chelsea Festival. The festival aims to set new standards as a visionary, international art festival in London. It wants to work actively with the local population, but at the same time address the variety and diversity of current issues with a global audience.

Speaking of color: The ensemble of eight pastel-colored blocks by the Parisian office LAN Architecture has been completed and can be seen here with us.