In line with Anni Albers long-held belief that art should be an absorbing source of diversion, The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation has partnered with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial Health Charity to create the interiors for a children’s hospital in London.
For Josef and Anni Albers – lifelong artistic adventurers, and pioneers of 20th century modernism – art and ethos intertwine. For them, the timeless qualities of art and rhythmic calming of pattern allow us to endure some of life's greatest challenges. Their foundation, set up by Josef in 1971, aims to further this vision, both in terms of aesthetic remembrance and practical assistance.
Photography: Ed Reeve. Courtesy of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
This unique project combines state-of-the-art clinical equipment with artworks donated by the Albers Foundation, including, among other works, important wall murals and prints from Josef Albers’ ‘Homage to the Square’ series – a progression that occupied the artist for 25 years of his career. It also sees Anni’s therapeutically iterative designs reflected in bespoke bed screens and wallpaper. Implemented in partnership with the interior graphic design team at Sable&Hawkes, yellow is prominent throughout, echoing Josef’s belief that yellow was the colour of healing. A warm and welcoming environment greets all.
The children’s intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital provides care for children with life-threatening conditions and those who have experienced acute trauma. It currently treats over 400 children annually. Since 2016, it has been undergoing a £10 million refurbishment (of which this project is a part), extending the number of intensive care beds from eight to 15, enabling staff to treat an extra 200 children a year.
The partnership with the Albers Foundation started when director Nicholas Fox Weber, (whose grandson Wilder Fox Smith was born at St Mary’s in 2014), learned of the hospital’s extension project. ‘With energy and heart, the people at St Mary’s have realised the wonderful transformation of the children’s intensive care unit to an unprecedented degree,’ he explains. ‘My hope is that it will become the benchmark of what can be done worldwide wherever there are children – and the people who love them – in need.’
Photography: Ed Reeve. Courtesy of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
Photography: Ed Reeve. Courtesy of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation
INFORMATION
-
Tasneem Sarkez's heady mix of kitsch, Arabic and Americana hits LondonArtist Tasneem Sarkez draws on an eclectic range of references for her debut solo show, 'White-Knuckle' at Rose Easton
-
Alice Neel’s portraits celebrating the queer world are exhibited in London‘At Home: Alice Neel in the Queer World’, curated by Hilton Als, opens at Victoria Miro, London
-
‘You have to face death to feel alive’: Dark fairytales come to life in London exhibitionDaniel Malarkey, the curator of ‘Last Night I Dreamt of Manderley’ at London’s Alison Jacques gallery, celebrates the fantastical
-
Inside the distorted world of artist George RouyFrequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form
-
Love, melancholy and domesticity: Anna Calleja is a painter to watchAnna Calleja explores everyday themes in her exhibition, ‘One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night’, at Sim Smith, London
-
Henni Alftan’s paintings frame everyday moments in cinematic renditionsConcurrent exhibitions in New York and Shanghai celebrate the mesmerising mystery in Henni Alftan’s paintings
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
-
‘This blood that is flowing is my blood, and that should be a positive thing’: Tracey Emin at White CubeTracey Emin’s exhibition ‘I followed you to the end’ has opened at White Cube Bermondsey in London, and traces the artist’s journey through loss
