Hestercombe Gallery highlights the convergence of art and architecture

The human mind finds comfort in compartmentalisation, a process of pigeonholing that makes any form of data more comprehensible for us. This propensity towards categorisation is evident all around us—from genres of books and movies to branches of creative spheres. The disciplines of design, art and architecture, despite stemming from a shared passion for the imaginative, have evolved as three (in)dependent fields. But, can we ignore the countless instances where one realm spills over to the other, and the otherwise defined boundaries blur? These intersections often become harbours of a hybrid language and collaborative discourses—spaces that designers, architects, and artists have found solace and inspiration in, time and time again. What entails the layered juxtaposition of seemingly distinct approaches and creative disciplines—and are they so dissimilar after all?

Located in Taunton, a country town in Somerset, England, the Hestercombe Gallery presents an exhibition of artworks from March 18 - July 2, 2023 titled Design for Life - Art and Architecture - Part 1. The show is a visual exploration of the powerful and historical intersection of art and architecture, alongside the interactions of architects and artists spanning the last 65 years. The eight exhibition spaces of the contemporary art gallery feature a cumulation of artworks conceived by over 20 international artists and architects, also encompassing a posthumous work by seminal Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, who is counted among the trailblazers of modern architecture. Design for Life - Art and Architecture - Part 1 brings together a rich repertoire of drawings, paintings, sculptures, models, photographs, films, and plans. The modern oeuvre is accompanied by original 18th and 19th-century watercolours as well as plans from Hestercombe’s archives.

The Hestercombe Gallery was established in 2014 with the goal of fostering the best in the sphere of contemporary arts. Over the seven years of its existence, the gallery has offered its spaces for programmes of stirring showcases, a series of artists in residence, outdoor commissions, and engaging lineups of talks, seminars, and workshops. The curation for the ongoing show includes works by artists who are known for unearthing links to architecture, such as Christo, Elmgreen & Dragset, and Marine Hugonnier. “Ulla von Brandenburg’s 8, filmed at Château de Chamarande near Paris, draws parallels with the Hestercombe House and Gardens—both properties had their gardens designed by mid-18th-century artists/ architects who were inspired by the Grand Tour,” says Tim Martin, artistic director and curator of the new art exhibition. “Von Brandenburg’s film will, therefore, be juxtaposed with original works by Hestercombe’s C.W. Bampfylde, to explore notions of architecture, romanticism, and the sublime,” he adds.

Works by optical artist Bridget Riley and Estonian architect Leonhard Lapin juxtaposes new creations by Somerset-based artist Toni Davey. German photography pioneer Andreas Gursky is positioned alongside architectural influencers Superstudio from Italy and Le Corbusier. Repurposed industrial doors by Chinese artist Liu Wei speak of the incomplex beauty in fundamental architectural elements, while interrogating the urbanisation and construction populating cityscapes of China. Cyprien Gaillard’s film Pruitt Igoe Falls alludes to the shortcomings of social housing and modern architecture in Britain and the United States. 16 situations by English artist Derek Boshier revolves around the way in which an object, whether a sculpture or a piece of architecture, can transform a situation and vice versa, often through its employed size and scale. In Ugo La Pietra’s ideal house project, he contrives a house for a sculptor to sit on top of a skyscraper.

Visitors will also get the chance to view the Jacuzzi bath of Hestercombe’s Victorian owners, an eight-tap spray bath which was among the first Jacuzzi baths introduced into a British abode by George Jennings Ltd. The exhibition has also come to life through contributions from the David and Indrė Roberts Collection managed by the Roberts Institute of Art and from the Drawing Matter Collection, an organisation that explores the roles of drawing in architectural thought and practice. Through the show, visitors embark on a visual exploration of history, size, and scale, witnessing the adjacency of larger conceptual ideas around the built environment—a house, a community, or an art gallery—and relatively smaller architectural components such as boxes, doors, fireplaces, and railings. The exhibition space thus becomes a stage of simple and intricate interactions, leaving the onlooker wondering where art ends and architecture begins—or the other way around.

‘Design for Life: Art and Architecture - Part 1’ will be on view from March 18 - July 2, 2023, at the Hestercombe Gallery in Somerset, England.