As Frieze Week, one of the most significant events in the contemporary art world, takes over London, art enthusiasts are flocking to Regent’s Park for the main exhibition. However, the city is filled with additional exhibitions and sites for culture lovers to explore.
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Entitled "Flowers for Rosewood", the wooden structure has been described by Booths as a continuation of his creative intervention. He wrote on instagram that as usual, the work started as drawings on paper, and was scaled up and made feasible for the outdoor. It is made from hand painted timber, printed plywood and some hardware.
Photo by Lucia Carpio. |
In Holborn, a district known for its legal ties, the diamond center at Hatton Garden, and Great Ormond Street Hospital, the luxurious Rosewood London hotel is showcasing a commissioned artwork by London-based multidisciplinary artist and designer John Booth in its courtyard, entitled "Flowers for Rosewood", it is a wooden structure.
Booth is celebrated for his vibrant use of colour, bold patterns, and playful, collage-inspired designs. With a background in illustration and fashion, he has collaborated with top brands such as Selfridges, Paul Smith, and Fendi. His artistic practice spans across various mediums, including ceramics, painting, sculpture, textiles, and fashion.
Booth studied Fashion Print at Central Saint Martins, a prestigious art and design school in London. His education in fashion deeply influenced his approach to art, particularly in his exploration of patterns and textures.
Early in his career, Booth initially worked in fashion, collaborating with brands like Zandra Rhodes and John Galliano, which honed his sense of colour and pattern mixing. His ability to create playful, highly visual designs allowed him to transition into various art and design fields.
Much of John Booth's work features expressive characters or faces that are rendered in a highly abstract, cartoon-like manner, often composed of layered shapes, bold lines, and contrasting colours. His collage technique, both in physical and digital forms, is a hallmark of his aesthetic.
Booth's work is known for his playful and experimental use of materials and techniques. He frequently mixes media, incorporating collage, embroidery, and printmaking into his pieces. His work is highly expressive, and he often uses vibrant primary colours and adds a sense of fun and whimsy to his pieces.
Now since 2017, Rosewood London’s Executive Pastry Chef, Mark Perkins, has crafted bespoke cakes for the hotel’s Art Afternoon Tea, drawing inspiration from renowned artists such as Banksy, Alexander Calder, Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, and Mark Rothko. Previous menus have also paid tribute to icons like David Hockney and Van Gogh.
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| Photo courtesy of Rosewood London |
This year, the hotel has introduced a new range of cakes in collaboration with John Booth, available in their stunning Mirror Room restaurant. These edible creations, featuring bold prints and vibrant colors, are designed to evoke joy and are served alongside finger sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, and jam.
To find inspiration for the Art Afternoon Tea - The John Booth Collection menu, Executive Pastry Chef Mark Perkins spent time in Booth’s studio. For this co-created collection, both artists exchanged creative roles—Perkins sketched designs while Booth explored flavors and ingredients.
Perkins said as a Pastry Chef, he is always curious and tries to draw inspiration from things that surround him.
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Displays in Rosewood London lobby.
Photo by Lucia Carpio |
"London is a vibrant city with an incredibly energetic art scene. Rosewood London's quirky interiors reflect the British capital's history, culture and sensibilities, featuring the works of some of the world's most renowned artists, with contemporary pieces complemented by more traditional art throughout the hotel."
Booth’s diverse experience in fashion, installations, ceramics, and homeware is reflected in the menu, filled with artistic expression and personal storytelling, exploring the rich and deeply intertwined relationship between art and food, as both can be seen as forms of creative expression that engage the senses, evoke emotions, and reflect culture, as food and art intersect in several key ways, in terms of visual aesthetics and presentation, materiality and medium, emotional connection and storytelling, playfulness and creativity:
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"The Twins" cake
Photo courtesy of Rosewood London |
One of the cakes, "The Twins," draws from Booth’s experience as a twin. It’s a two-sided cake, reminiscent of sticky toffee pudding, featuring chocolate date sponge, sable biscuit, praline crunch, and vanilla custard, adorned with a pink and yellow flower in honor of his Cumbrian roots.
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The Painter's Palette" cakes
Photo courtesy of Rosewood London |
Another creation, "The Painter’s Palette," combines vanilla cheesecake, pink sponge, and raspberry jelly, symbolizing the vibrant brushstrokes of an artist’s palette, set atop a crisp biscuit base.
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The "Tropical Tulip" cake
Photo courtesy of Rosewood London |
The third offering, "Tropical Tulip," is inspired by the tulip motif that frequently appears in Booth’s work. This purple and pink cake blends mango mousse, orange passionfruit jelly, and pistachio sponge, layered over a chocolate sablé biscuit.
Commenting on the collaboration, Booth remarked, "Working with Rosewood London and Chef Mark Perkins has been incredibly exciting. We’ve mixed bold colours, flavours, and textures to create cakes that inspire joy and playfulness. It’s been a true collaboration, where we’ve infused our personal energy and creativity into these beautiful, delicious creations."
Much of John Booth's work features expressive characters or faces that are rendered in a highly abstract, cartoon-like manner, often composed of layered shapes, bold lines, and contrasting colours. His collage technique, both in physical and digital forms, is a hallmark of his aesthetic.
