H2 Hotel
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Architect | David Baker + Partners Location | H2 Hotel, Healdsburg, CA Start - Completion date | May 2008 - June 2010 Project Description | Swarm Gallery is proud to announce a new curatorial project in conjunction with the opening of the h2hotel in Healdsburg, California, slated for summer 2010. New works by four contemporary artists are featured throughout the new eco-friendly inn. Swarm Gallery worked closely with the h2 and architect David Baker to integrate environmentally conscious, contemporary artwork into the new hotel. The artwork proposal corresponded directly to the hotel's architectural and design concept - eco-conscious with a vivacious feel, catering to active users with a scaled-down pragmatic luxury - as well as the hotel's ambition for LEED Gold certification in construction and their involvement in the adjacent Foss Creek restoration project. Researching new ideas pertaining to "green art" - artworks that embrace the natural environment - Swarm Gallery commissioned a series of works with regard to the Healdsburg surroundings, with an interest on high aesthetic standards, educating guests of the area's native plants, and provoking curiosity in the hotels "green" efforts. Stephen Galloway, Canopy Dream (2010), UV cured ink prints on laminated glass, 96", diameter For the hotel's lobby and three guestroom floors (near the elevator), Swarm Gallery commissioned photographer Stephen Galloway to create a luminous 4-part photographic glass piece representing the canopy of a live oak tree. The live oak is a signature floral feature of central Sonoma County. On ground level, the first part of the installation (lobby design above), measures 8 feet in diameter and depicts the canopy of a live oak as viewed from the ground. As you ascend the hotel's floors, the photographs represent higher and higher views into the tree's canopy. The upper floor pieces measure 8 feet wide by 5 feet 4 inches high.
Next to Stephen Galloway's piece in the lobby is a bench commissioned by Oakland artist and designer Christopher Loomis. The bench is made from ash hardwood and wire, and is a unique, original design.
In the Spoon Bar, a site-specific installation by Seattle-based artist Katy Stone will compliment and activate the concrete wall facing the dining room. "Little Universe (Burst Boom Bloom)" is made from acrylic paint on archival plastic film. The individual shapes are hand painted, then cut and layered together on the wall to make an amorphous composition that wraps around the wall into the bar area. From a distance, the yellow bursts coalesce into a circular form that suggests a constellation or galaxy, pulsing with energy. As you move closer, the horizontal motion of the shapes takes over, suggesting both a harvest of flowers and at the same time an unknown organic process on a cellular level. Visible from all vantage points in the lobby, restaurant, and street, the piece blooms with life and color, reflecting the abundance of nature in Healdsburg's surrounding areas. Kathy Aoki, Diagram No. 16 (2010), Ink on paper, 22" x 30" Each of the hotel's guestrooms feature a print by Kathy Aoki, based on four of the native California plants used in the landscaping surrounding the hotel. These plants, commonly known as white alder tree, sand dune sedge, spreading rush, and Douglas iris, were developed into "technical" illustrations using references and drawing styles of the 18th and 19th centuries. The illustrated uses of the flora are lighthearted and humorous inventions of the artist's imagination, based on the shape and structure of each plant.
Continuing with historical, natural and educational themes of the hotel, the gallery presents six variations of historical maps in the guest bathrooms. All of the maps - including geological surveys and vineyard regions - represent Healdsburg and the surrounding area from 19th century to mid-20th century. Presented in hand-finished frames resembling traditional red lacquer and printed on sustainable bamboo paper, these pieces are whimsical and novel additions to the guestrooms.
CURATORIAL > CONTACT Svea Lin Soll, Principal/Director of Swarm Gallery |
