LONDON.- 45 Park Lane, part of Dorchester Collection, unveiled two commissioned artworks by Hormazd Narielwalla to celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. Named King and Crown, the exhibition launched on April 28, 2023, and will run until June 22, 2023. Born in India and trained as an artist in London, Narielwalla has created two distinctive pieces for the celebration that will be added to the hotels established art collection. These commissioned artworks consist of The Pattern King and The Crown which exemplify and depict kingship in the contemporary age, which have been combined into one collage and reproduced into 70 large-scale flags placed around the exterior of the hotel.
On his inspiration and creative process, Hormazd says; "the two collages made for 45 Park Lane accompanied with a suite of works for the exhibition made on tailoring patterns bring to mind medieval manuscripts and maps. Their language is codified yet they convey a powerful sense of materiality and time. Each work references the investiture, refracted through a modernist grid of lines, points and planes deconstructing the ceremonial objects of the regalia the crown, the sceptre, the orb, and the robes to re-present their meanings to us.
The Pattern King is an abstract portrait of HM The King, which showcases Narielwallas fascination with the transformative power of clothes, using templates of tailoring and sewing patterns as the basis for collages and drawings since 2008, when he first began creating his art. The art piece is an abstract portrait of HM The King on the day of his Coronation with depictions of a sceptre, crown and orb as key symbols of the royal investiture. The Crown has been divided into hand-painted purple and gold paper which represents both the colour of royalty and that of the hotel. There is an ermine motif that represents the brim of the Crown and links back to The Pattern King.
Curated by Lily Ackerman of Ackerman Studios, this exhibition and installation forms part of a wider series of exhibitions at 45 Park Lane.
Narielwalla was born in Mumbai [ 1979 ] and came to the UK in 2003 originally to study as a fashion designer. He completed a PHD in Fine Arts at the University Arts London in 2014 and since 2008 has shown his work in exhibitions curated by the Crafts Council, the Hepworth Wakefield Museum, the Migration Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, amongst others. His solo exhibitions include A Study on Anansi, Paul Smith, London (2009); Lost Gardens South Bank Centre, London (2016); Rock Paper Scissors (2020) and Diamond Dolls (2021) Eagle Gallery Cabinet Room, London and Pattern Symphony Mansard Gallery, London (2022). His work is held in collections including the Albers Foundation Library, CT, USA; Ben Uri Museum and Gallery, London; TATE (through the Eagle Gallery / EMH Arts Archive); Hepworth Wakefield Museum; Prints and Works on Paper Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Yale Center for British Art, CT, USA.