STATE OF THE ART
Six interior designers tell us the artists we should be investing in right now
FEATURE PATRICK HAMILTON COURTNEY
CLARE GASKIN ON DAVID SHILLINGLAW
‘I was introduced to the work of David Shillinglaw while on a street art tour around London. His brightly coloured works are a sequence of words, symbols and pictures, which can be “read” individually or taken as a narrative journey. It feels like you are jumping into David’s head and experiencing how his thoughts emerge, which is quite an experience!’ A graduate of Central Saint Martins art school, David Shillinglaw creates intense canvases that have elements of graffiti art to them, but are more elaborately detailed and precise, even while communicating a sense of life’s turbulence. We are particularly drawn to the artist’s recent botanical works depicting plants and gardens. They are illustrative, full of vitality and bring a joyful burst of colour to interior spaces.
SOPHIE ASHBY ON TESFAYE URGESSA
‘Tesfaye Urgessa is one of my favourite artists. I recently convinced one of my clients to buy a huge painting via the Newchild Gallery. His work is so rich and vibrant and I love the attitude of his paintings – they feel quite masculine but also really dynamic. His pieces work quite well as a starting point for the colour palette of a room, building the scheme around the art, which is always our approach.’ Combining Ethiopian iconography with traditional figurative painting, Tesfaye Urgessa’s striking canvases are true scene-stealers. Tesfaye, an Ethiopian artist based in Germany, has held exhibitions at institutions including the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and is represented in London by Saatchi Yates. His work comments on the politics of identity, race and domesticity with an arresting blend of both the visually familiar and the abstract.
JAMES MACKIE ON KATE FRIEND
‘In her latest work, Kate Friend asks well known creatives to arrange a flower and vessel of their choosing from which she makes a photographic portrait of the “sitter”. I find her work interesting, in that it upends the methodology of the figurative tradition of portrait making and of still life. Added to this is an accomplished chromatic sensibility.’ Kate’s photographic practice saw her working on commissions with brands such as Issey Miyake and Maison Margiela. Her still-life ‘portraiture’ has engaged a philosophical introspection on how we represent ourselves, and enabled collaborations with names including (clockwise from top left) Yinka Ilori, Claudia Schiffer, Tania Compton and Margaret Howell. Her art is available through Lyndsey Ingram gallery.
NINA CAMPBELL ON KATE MALONE
‘When I worked for John Fowler, I ask
