The Great Northern Hotel at Kings Cross has introduced new art pieces to its public areas.
The 91-room grade II-listed hotel joined Starwood’s Tribute Portfolio in September 2015 (see news September 2015).
To read a review of the property, click here.
New to the hotel, is a piece called ‘The Centre of Time’ by British artist Paul Kenton in the hotel's lobby.
It is intended to mirror both the story of the original St Pancras Station clock which was smashed into a thousand pieces on being lowered following its sale to a private collector - and the year the hotel opened, with 1854 individual panels.
The outer ring rings highlights the hotel’s location, with natural materials such as wood, copper and brass reference Britain’s industrial past, while the centre celebrates the hotel’s vitality through its staff and its restoration.
The Centre of Time, Paul Kenton 2015
In the public areas, as guests alight from the lifts on each floor there is a selection of contemporary pieces by emerging artists ranging from "sculptural wall pieces exploring the relationship we have with our surroundings to intricate portraits of flowers that consider the effects of scale and light".
Paintings of flowers in oil on canvas, Natalie Toplass
The Snug Bar next to the hotel's restaurant Plum + Spilt Milk on the first floor has an eclectic collection of art, hung salon-style.
Vintage still life and landscape paintings depict moments of calm in British life.
Without Change, Gillian Swann
Meanwhile the nearby British Library has an exhibition celebrating 150 years since the publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
The exhibition (free entry) shows Lewis Carroll’s original manuscript with hand-drawn illustrations, alongside editions by Mervyn Peake, Ralph Steadman, Leonard Weisgard, Arthur Rackham, Salvador Dali and others.
In response, the hotel continues its changing exhibition of art on loan from the British Library by showing a selection of original hand-drawn prints from various editions. These will be displayed in the guestroom corridors on all floors until April 2016.
Subject to availability, hotel guests can also enjoy exclusive private viewings of this exhibition in the British Library as well as future shows.
The hotel intends to provide a complimentary, self-guided iPod tour of the hotel’s art collection with narration by the featured artists which will be soon be available enabling guests to explore the collection.
The Great Northern Hotel’s art collection is curated by Shoreditch-based consultancy ARTIQ, formerly Works in Print.
Tom Otley
