Art & Artist Are The Guests Of Honor At This Boutique London Hotel

It’s rare to come across a hotel brand that appreciates art, let alone build an entire property around it. For art lovers and casual collectors who find themselves in London, there’s one property that’s become synonymous with the celebration and appreciation of local artist and artists: the Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection.

The buzzing and creative area of Bankside’s neighborhood, South Bank and Southwark, has a deep-rooted association with arts and culture. The hotel was purpose built to capture that essence across all aspects of the property: it was, according to Philip Steiner, the hotel’s general manager, to be “an art school without the dust.”

This, in essence, is what the hotel has become: part luxury oasis, part art studio. The studio itself (a real, breathing, working space that adjoins the hotel’s lobby) is known as the Art Yard Maker’s Studio, a permanent creative space in the hotel, filled by an ever-changing roster of artists. The studio is run in collaboration with Contemporary Collective and DegreeArt.com, who champion up-and-coming creatives. Residencies at the studio are typically two months long, during which time the artists use the space to develop their creative process, showcase their work, as well as host a range of workshops that engage both guests and the local community.

The studio has an open-house policy, meaning hotel guests and those visiting the neighborhood’s major art galleries are invited to walk in to witness the artists at work, as well as partake in interactive art and design workshops. Many of these are often held in the hotel’s lobby, which encourages creative play and discussion and itself functions as a mini-gallery of sorts.

The hotel part is in itself a minor work of art: each of the hotel’s 161 rooms and seven suites are thoughtfully decorated, maximizing space and emphasizing the hotel’s surrounding views of the River Thames. Each guest room also features a creative toolbox, featuring a drawing pad and pencils, to inspire creativity.

Downstairs, the Art Yard Bar & Kitchen serves fresh, seasonal food, whimsical cocktails, and indulgent desserts, all set in a cozy, art-filled dining room that inspires and invites conversation and reflection.

Below are edited excerpts of a conversation with Philip Steiner, General Manager, Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection.

The hotel is unique in the way it celebrates art and seeks to connect through it. Oftentimes, hotels struggle to tell a rich, emotional story, and very few manage to do so through art/design. What, in your opinion, makes the Bankside Hotel so uniquely positioned to place art at the front and center and build its identity around that?

The hotel is part of Autograph Collection Hotels, a long-standing patron of the arts. Each Autograph Collection Hotels property, including Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection, offers rich immersive moments that leave a lasting imprint.

At Bankside Hotel, authenticity lies at the heart of the experience. From conception, the hotel was inspired by the local neighborhood’s rich and vibrant cultural influences. Every element of art and design within the hotel has a purpose and meaning, from the eclectic collection of mid-century and bespoke contemporary art on the walls, to the illustrative tiles in the restaurant that depict the story of the South Bank. Every member of the hotel team understands and celebrates the art that makes the foundation of this special place.

Let’s chat about the artist-in-residence program and the hotel’s ongoing support of local artists. Can you tell me some highlights of past resident artists, and how the program has evolved and changed throughout the years?

Every artist brings something different to the studio, through a variety of mediums and processes. The Artist in Residence program provides a permanent space for emerging artists to showcase and create their work. Our partnership with Contemporary Collective and DegreeArt.com means that the hotel can support upcoming artists, and celebrate their growth with them. The artists run special workshops encouraging guests to get involved in their processes, and celebrate their end of residencies with a wine hour for hotel guests, to showcase their art.

More recently, we have begun to celebrate the connection between our Art Yard restaurant and our Art program, creating special drinks and dishes co-created with the artist, which is both a new creative project for our artist in residence and a fascinating process for our food and drink team. It is yet another example of the way art flows through every aspect of life at the hotel.

How do the hotel’s surroundings and its location in Bankside influence its art program? Does the area have a rich cultural history that lends itself to creativity and artistic spirit? Some examples of standout pieces/art/design would be great to illustrate this point.

The hotel is located in the heart of the art and culture hub of London, with the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre, Borough Market, the National Theatre, the Southbank Centre, and the Hayward Gallery right on its doorstep.

More recently, Artist in Residences have collaborated with major public art institutions and found inspiration in our neighborhood and sought to create work that engaged with the local community. Some of the highlights have included Luke M Walker’s six-panel, 7.5m-long work depicting the Thames from Wandsworth to Tower Bridge that was created during his eight-week residency. It is hand drawn with charcoal and makes for a striking piece across in our collection – and it is brilliant to see guests using it to spot their favorite hideouts in the area.

Our current artist in residence, Samuel Ryde, has embarked upon his “Fifteen Minute Series, » which involves setting a strict parameter surrounding Bankside and going on photography walks in this area of London. Samuel’s photography focuses on capturing the « un-noticed, » and he has produced a wonderful collection of photographs that highlight the hidden gems across the area. Toward the end of his residency, he was even able to take the portraits of some of South Bank’s long-standing residents – and tell the stories of how the area has shaped the lives of the humans who live among it.

How is art incorporated into every part of a guest’s stay at the Bankside Hotel? From the gallery space downstairs to the lobby, to the art in the corridors and rooms — how does the hotel encourage and facilitate interactions with its art, and allow guests to consider it, talk about it, and engage with it?

Art and creativity in all forms is everywhere. You’ll see it on the hotel walls, you’ll sit on it, perhaps even eat it – it’s everywhere and everything. We encourage and invite guests to interact with the artists, through creative workshops, wine hours, and the open-door policy of the Art Yard Studio. Even a curated exhibition hangs in the White Box (the hotel’s largest meeting room) to inspire creative collaborations in meetings and events. All the art is different and unique – sometimes even polarizing – but as great art will, it will always inspire conversation, and it never fails to make our guests exchange their thoughts and feelings about the art.

Throughout the coronation weekend, the property gifted miniature editions of ‘Majesty,’ the specially commissioned coronation artwork by Ernesto Romano, to 12 guests. We felt it was the signature Bankside way to celebrate – with a tangible, artistic expression of the memories they made during the historic weekend in London. We are continuing to gift these to lucky guests throughout the year.

What is your personal favorite piece of the current Bankside art collection—and why?

I am particularly fond of the work that Joshua Donkor produced during his residency. While in the studio, Ghanaian-British painter Joshua continued to develop his new body of work, ‘I Have More Souls Than One,’ which seeks to explore transcultural and African Diasporic experiences in the Western world and how this is felt through the different generations of family.

With the goals of sharing and talking about the different ways people have navigated these spaces, Joshua picked up conversations with people he met while in residency and created a series of portraits, mapping individuals’ experiences spanning across the diaspora, time periods, and generations within families. Joshua really engaged with the guests and staff, as well as the general public, to facilitate an open and inclusive conversation. The end result was a series of stunning portraits that we are proud to display at the hotel.

What has been some of the feedback you’ve received from guests about the art around the hotel, or the artists-in-residence program?

We’re never short of incredible feedback on the creativity and art at the hotel. It inspires and creates a focus and talking point, even for guests that have self-professed to not being interested or not being creative end up engaging with the art.

Are the artworks for sale, and if so, how many guests have bought pieces directly from the hotel?

Creating a viable commercial opportunity for the artists in residence has always been an intrinsic element of the residency, as we want to ensure that artists are also able to build up their collector base during their time in the studio and ensure their career is able to develop further once they complete their time with us. Over the years, artists have sold over 100 artworks to guests staying at the hotel, local residents, and passers-by who have watched the art in the studio evolve over the course of the two months and feel connected to the work.

Guests will often contact the hotel following their stay to purchase a piece of art, having met the artist in residence in the studio or over a drink at wine hour, and wanting to make the memory permanent. We are proud to support this important aspect of the more commercial side of the art world as much as the creative aspects.

In what ways does the hotel support emerging artists or promote lesser-known talent? Are there any platforms or initiatives dedicated to fostering artistic growth and exposure?

Contemporary Collective, the studio run by DegreeArt.com, were chosen as our partners for the makers studio as they champion up-and-coming creatives. The studio was founded in 2003 to champion and further the careers of promising artists, many of whom the gallery has managed since graduation. The core mission of the program is to support talented artists and empower them to continue making and developing through the critical early years of their careers. The artist-in-residence series gives them a place, and a project, to nurture their process and inspire their creativity. The hotel also supports a number of initiatives for young artists such as ‘Aldridge Junior Signature Art Prize.’

Are there certain design or artistic touches or elements that guests may not otherwise notice that you can tell us about? Perhaps something very subtle that adds to the overall feeling of being immersed in so much art and creativity?

Sitting within the Art Yard are Laura Carlin’s hand-painted tiles. These illustrations bring the cultural narratives of the South Bank to life. This award-winning ceramicist and illustrator’s ability to turn the mundane into the whimsical is what attracted the hotel to commission the work. She wanted to show unknown London and Bankside, daily life transformed into painterly abstractions, a 3-D story of the hotel and its surroundings. Although they are simply tiles, it shows the level of detail that all the art touches throughout.

These tiles are a mixture of scenes carried out along a number of tiles, with single ties punctuating the murals, acting as a bridge between the longer stories. Don’t expect a chronological visual journey, rather a jumble of the historic and contemporary, the playful and serious. Charming, quirky, and off-beat – it’s all the things we aspire to be here at the hotel.

Can you walk me through one or two standout pieces of design/art inside the property currently, and their backstories — something people may walk past every day without realizing their significance/importance? (Perhaps the specially commissioned coronation piece?)

The newest addition to our collection is the beautiful gold and regal purple crown art piece that is proudly displayed in front of the house in our lobby for the remainder of the year. The piece, entitled Majesty, by Ernesto Romano, was commissioned by us to mark the significance of the coronation year and the celebrations across London. Ernesto is a former artist in residence and uses his own X-rays transformed with bold colors and often embellished with gold leaf, glitter, spray paint or Swarovski crystals. He often used the symbol of the crown and was inspired by the dedication and service of Queen Elizabeth II.

The piece, for Ernesto, represented a mourning for The Queen, his inspiration for many of his pieces, as well as the significance of the dawning of a new age of royalty – which shows there is so much deeper significance behind this beautiful piece, that aesthetically works so well in our hotel.

Finally, can you talk to us about any exciting new plans, projects, or initiatives still in the works for the hotel, from an art and design perspective?

The residency is an on-going program of new and exciting projects, and we’re delighted to welcome Lana Matsuyama early this summer. Lana is a Japanese American contemporary artist, designer, and creative director based in London and New York. Specializing in abstract mixed media paintings and drawings, she aims to retain a sense of minimalism in her work while simultaneously creating movement, emotion, and complexity through repetition, texture, and patina.

We’re excited that she will be pushing our collaborative food and art experience further and creating a partnership between artist and chef. It comes at a perfect time, as we launch a new menu at our Art Yard restaurant, designed to catapult the hotel to one of the top food and drink choices in the South Bank area.