Ian Berry opens 'Hotel California' at the Catto Gallery

Guests at the opening of Hotel California at the Catto Gallery. Credit Gökhan Göksoy

Ian Berry opened his Hotel California exhibition with his work made of only denim jeans to great acclaim. By the end of the day, all the work was sold. Attendees all agreed that the work has to be seen in real life and so many were taken about by this new body of work, where Ian turned denim to water in the bright Californian sun.

London also basked in the sunny sunday day that reflected the new radiant work of Ian’s collages of blue jeans. The first show Ian has had with the Catto since his groundbreaking Behind Closed Doors body at the end of 2016 this much anticipated show almost sold out before the doors opened, and the rest soon were taken by eager collectors.

photo by Gökhan Göksoy

You can see more pictures of the opening here

Ian also showcases two of his installation, with the Record Store bridging the gap between the Hotel California album cover by the Eagles with the Hotel and pool themes and his much written about Secret Garden covered the Heath Street windows of the gallery making many a passer by stop in their tracks.

Photos of the art in context in the gallery

Secret Garden London

The show now continues until July 28 at

CATTO GALLERY

100 Heath Street London, NW3 1DP

Monday - Saturday 10 - 6pm

Sunday 12.30 - 6pm

Palm Springs made in the State fabric of California.

Such a Lovely Place

As part of the Hotel California body of work Ian included two pieces based on a stunning Palm Springs property, while not a hotel, this property and many like it were originally built as holiday homes. Ian says it still captures the spirit of what he wanted to portray and of course has the architectural qualities contrasted by the pools next to them - and of course the light.

‘I’ve always loved the Mid Century Modern architecture of Palm Springs contrasting with the desert. Everyone talks about my work being made of denim, and of course, it is California’s state official fabric, but my work is more than denim and what interests me the most is how light hits things.’ Ian Said.

Ian was lucky enough that his neighbour owned a beautiful property by Architect Jack Meiselman (Renovated 2013) called III Palms, the Atanasio–Martinez residence. Unlucky for Ian was that they may be neighbours, but only in London. Jack Meiselman, along with his brother Bernie, were the developers responsible for building a number of affordable mid-century modern homes in the Palm Springs area during the 1950s and 1960s and greatly responsible for the "Desert Modernism" movement and Anthony and Valarie’s house a perfect example.

Meiselman homes are famous for having features such as butterfly rooflines, post and beam ceilings, abundant walls of glass and clerestory windows, decorative concrete blocks and great indoor-outdoor flow to take advantage of the Palm Springs climate.

Anthony Atanasio and Valerie Martinez are not just neighbours but friends of Ian’s. For years Ian has been impressed with their credentials as top commercial film directors - lets not forget that Ian’s first professional years were in advertising. The multi-award winning husband and wife commercial directing team, ATANASIO + MARTINEZ have according to critics, consistently produced commercials that "pushes the technical boundaries of what advertising could/should be"

There She Stood in the Doorway

The creative duo have done ads for the likes of Ethihad, Audi, Nike, Budweiser, Diesel and Hotpoint and with talent such as Nicole Kidman and Liam Hemsworth who both highly commended the Anglo-French team as well as the industries award juries.

‘If I was still in advertising working as an Art Director I would be just dreaming of working with Anthony and Valerie. But I’m lucky that I live in a building with such creative people and glad to call these guys my neighbours’ Ian added.

credit http://www.atanasio-martinez.com/

Valerie Martinez at the opening of Hotel California at the Catto Gallery, London

details of the bushes by the Atanasio-Martinez property in Such a Lovely Place. Credit Debbie Bragg

Valerie sat in the chair looking back over her property in Palm Springs. Credit Debbie Bragg

Ian is grateful to Anthony and Valerie for letting him work with their beautiful home to immortalize in denim and they were the first to view in Ian’s studio.

‘All the other pieces in the collection I took the photos and set up the scenes, so I am really happy to have worked with Anthony and Valerie - as not only are they top Directors, Anthony is a great photographer.’

You can see the show until the 28th July 2019 at

CATTO GALLERY

100 Heath Street London, NW3 1DP

Gallery opening times

Monday - Saturday 10 - 6pm
Sunday 12.30 - 6pm

Ian Berry | Hotel California | London Solo Show | Catto Gallery

And still the voices are calling from far away

Ian Berry returns to the Catto Gallery in Hampstead for his fourth solo exhibition with the London Gallery. With previous exhibitions selling out this much anticipated show brings the East London based artist back with a new body of work titled Hotel California with all the work of course being crafted with much detail out of denim.

Since his last London Show, Behind Closed Doors, Ian has spent a lot of time traveling showing his work, from Miami, Kentucky and New York, in the states across France as well as his hometown London where he turned a Soho store front in to a Record Store installation and Selfridges & Co on Oxford Street. It was his trip to California that left a big impact on Ian however, when he went to San Francisco to do a giant installation of the hanging garden trellis, that will hang permanently in the city known as the modern home of the jean.

The title piece of the Show, Hotel California by the Eagles

In the trip he took in both San Fran as well as LA and it was the light and the pools there that got Ian’s attention.

Ian says ‘I loved the Behind Closed Doors body of work both conceptually and technically it was a show that really worked, it was also my own mindset at the time. I was really moved how it connected with so many people. It was quite dark however, and I wanted to do the next show with bright denim. Something that I don’t think people know about my work beside it being made of jeans is the challenge I set of how to look at how light hits things. Like the tiles of the hallway floor, the metallic rows of washing machines in a launderette or a shiny polished bar top.’

In Hotel California it is a technical mastery of how Ian has managed to get the light hitting the ripples in the water, the reflection of palm trees and hotel in the pool, and the bubbles from a swimmer underwater. Ian stayed at the Roosevelt, famed as the first venue of the Oscars, rumored to have the ghost of Marilyn and also, a certain artist painted the floor of the pool in his iconic style. David Hockney. Ian featured the hotel pool in a number of pieces, along with the Mondrian and the Standard.

While in California, Ian forever had a song in his head, and while the working title became the shows title he fully knows the lyrics aren’t really about a hotel in California, that said he recreates the album cover from the Eagles 1977 hit, that does picture the Beverly Hills Hotel.

To connect the show, Ian will have a part of the Record Store installation that will compliment the Hotel California album cover. He will also be installing the famed Secret Garden for the first time in London, come and see his work in real life at the Catto Gallery and see how he adapts the garden to the space.

The Secret Garden in New York

Private View

Sunday 30 June 2019 12:30 - 5:30

Open to the public

1 July - 28 July 2019 everyday

Gallery opening times

Monday - Saturday 10 - 6pm
Sunday 12.30 - 6pm

How to find the gallery

CATTO GALLERY 100 Heath Street London, NW3 1DP

View Google map

If you would like to make an enquiry you can call the Catto Gallery on:
+44 (0) 20 7435 6660
email the gallery at: art@cattogallery.co.uk

Vote for Ian!

Ian Berry has been nominated as one of the 100 nominees for the Rivet 50 - the Fifty influential people in denim for 2019. You’ll find him within the final section, the influencer section along with the likes of the Hadid sisters and Hailey Bieber along with many well known names within denim - many of them Ian’s friends like Christine Rucci - who helped with the Secret Garden, Kelly Harrington, Mohsin Sajid, Ruedi Karrer and Denim Dudes Amy Leverton And Samual Trotman among others.

VOTE NOW www.rivet50.com

Ian says ‘I was surprised to be nominated as I never consider myself to be ‘in’ denim. However giving my email is full of ‘Ian.. I think you influenced this’ It is slightly ironic. But its always an honour to be given a accolade and I was touched when I got many messages from many in the denim industry of support. Over the many years of working in denim I realised I made many friends.

Ironically, some of them I am up against, but I don’t see it like that at all. They are all worthy of the place.

What is nice to see is a big British contingent, from Stella McCartney to Son of a Stag and Rivet and Hide, who are retailers here in London which represents with many others a really growing authentic denim community in the UK. ‘

What is Rivet 50?

Rivet’s Influential 50 is an index of the most creative and forward-thinking leaders driving the global jeanswear industry. The Influential 50 represent the upward direction the denim community strives for with each new collection, innovation and technology.

Watch out for?

Although it says to only vote for catorgories you know about and we’re sure many won’t be familiar, everyone loved the Secret Garden so look out for Alice Tonello of Tonello in the Executive nominees along with Tricia Carey of Lenzing who are both at the forefront of pushing sustainability in the industry.

Ian says ‘it would be unfair for me to say who to vote for, and we have had too many votes here in the UK lately and it becomes way too controversial, however if you see a brand name you like on the list the chances are the person named with it is one of the big driving forces behind it.’

VOTE NOW www.rivet50.com

Voting ends June 28th 2019

Ian Berry on DW Euromaxx

Watch the report on Ian Berry’s art in denim here

Ian Berry is on DW Euromaxx which is shown in many different countries and languages around the world. Antje Binder visited Ian in his London studio as well as them visiting Selfridges & Co in London where Ian was having an installation that shows his art in denim. You can watch the report on his denim art here.

About DW Euromaxx

Europe in all its diversity and fascination – that's what Euromaxx brings to the screen. Once a week, DW's magazine offers its international viewers absorbing insights into European culture and lifestyle.

Euromaxx reports on Europe with powerful images and exciting stories: architecture and adventure, cultural and culinary explorations, land and lifestyle, modern fashion and music, big names and big events. The TV magazine presents this diversity once a week: 26 minutes packed with interesting reports and portraits. All across Europe, Euromaxx tracks down extraordinary topics and surprises its viewers regularly with captivating stories. Euromaxx is television fare for connoisseurs!

Euromaxx comes to you right from the heart of Germany's capital. We broadcast our magazine from a state-of-the-art studio in Berlin using the latest design trends and innovations in a blend of real-life settings and augmented reality.

Euromaxx made DW the very first TV broadcaster to produce a full-fledged TV magazine reporting on lifestyle and culture in Europe. Through it, Germany's international broadcaster shows viewers the world over a modern Germany as part of a Europe growing together and emphasizes yet again its role as a mediator and facilitator of international dialogue. Euromaxx is produced in German, English, Spanish and Arabic.

Ian Berry in Selfridges & Co London

London based artist Ian Berry is currently showing in Selfridges and Co on London’s Oxford Street.

On the 3rd Floor in the world’s largest Denim Section in the ‘Denim Studio’ you’ll find a mini exhibition of Ian’s work that recently showed at the London Art Fair. Showing the new body of work based on the Hollywood Roosevelt in LA. The famed hotel that held the first Oscars is also where David Hockney painted the base of the pool.

The stand has a touch of his Secret Garden installation, with a trellis of flowers and foliage hanging down all made out of denim.

Time lapse of the making of overnight in Selfridges London

The Roosevelt Hotel, LA

Ian’s mini exhibition is to coincide with the Bright New Things program that Selfridges runs to promote sustainability with style with upcoming brands. Ian Berry’s recycled denim masterpieces demonstrates this message and is a theme across the promoted sustainable companies. From swimwear made out of regenerated ocean fishnets, sneakers made from recycled materials and, of course, vintage denim repurposed to make new stylish and fitted pairs with fellow East London designer, Anna Foster with E.L.V. Denim.

Ian Berry’s Self Portrait in London’s Selfridges

Ian says:

‘I’m proud to be a part of a growing denim community here in London where sustainability, quality, as well as positive ethics are at the heart of everything. Since moving back to London I found a really authentic community of talented designers, brands, stores and even a new mill that makes denim here in the UK (OK that’s in Lancashire)’

‘It’s fantastic to be a part of this great community, with people like Mohsin Sajid with Endrime, Snake and Dagger and many more - too many to name - but one of the common threads throughout them all is how Blackhorse Lane Atelier is so central to them and it’s great that they have a factory here in London that is the only craft jean maker in London.’

Denim Designer Anna Foster used the factory in Walthamstow to make her denim out of reused vintage jeans, which cut out the journey time and therefore the carbon footprint. Each jean is made up of two halves of vintage jeans, and is therefore entirely unique in its colour and fit. By reusing denim, it cuts the water intake and obviously breathes new life into something that could have been destined for landfill. E.L.V Denim operates from an ideal of ‘no waste’ and she creates her jeans with barely any environmental impact.

Anna says

I love denim, but not only that I’m passionate about the idea of reusing this functional fabric and reworking it into new styles.’

Ian Berry with the display in Selfridges.

Ian adds

When I started my work, it wasn’t really the sustainable message I was going with although I was a big follower of Al Gore when I started recycling denim. I used it because I felt it is the material of our time and I portray contemporary life. In the last few years sustainability is the new buzz word, which is on one side great - but only when it is used authentically, and not just for marketing. Of course I’m now happy that people talk of me in the way that my work portrays a sustainable message and it can make people think, but while I obviously care for the environment and over the years realised how bad a denim past has been its was never the core reason behind my work. People like Anna and Han at Blackhorse Lane really live and breathe that message and are doing a great job.

Ian Berry at the London Art Fair 2019

Ian will show a new body of work at the London Art Fair with the Catto Gallery at booth G38 this January. Based on his last years trip to LA and the Roosevelt Hotel.

LONDON ART FAIR

16 – 20 JANUARY 2019

London Art Fair provides a space to showcase the most exceptional modern and contemporary art of our time, to discover and to buy. The Fair is an established destination for both museum quality modern and contemporary work, nurturing collecting at all levels, from prints and editions, to major works by internationally renowned artists. To enable engagement with art, we continue to provide access to talks, tours, screenings and curated spaces, which include Photo50, our annual exhibition of contemporary photography; Art Projects, which features large-scale installations, solo shows and group displays; and – within Art Projects – Dialogues, a guest-curated section of Art Projects intended to encourage and foster relationships between home and abroad.

London Art Fair is an unmissable opening to the international art calendar, with the next edition taking place from 16-20 January 2019 [Preview Evening 15 January].

London Art Fair Aims

We believe that great art provides a lens to see the world through. That’s why every year London Art Fair connects the best galleries from around the world with both seasoned and aspiring collectors, providing a unique opportunity to discover and champion the most outstanding modern and contemporary art of our time.

Book tickets

Address

Business Design Centre
52 Upper Street
London N1 0QH

Ian on BBC London with Jo Good

Ian Berry was interviewed by Jo Good on BBC Radio London on New Years Eve at Broadcasting House in London. They were speaking about his new exhibition at the Smallest Gallery in Soho on Dean Street as well as what happened in the last year and whats upcoming this year.

Have a listen here starting around 1:55

Ian Berry on Mutha, the home of sustainable and conscious living

Ian Berry was followed in his studio and around London by the Mutha cameras and interviewed especially with the angle of the up cycling that his work is and on sustainability.

Ian was also filmed with Han from Blackhorse Lane in Walthamstow as well as at the Smallest Gallery in Soho where they filmed Ians installation Soho Records.

View this post on Instagram

Is art the answer to denim waste? Hit the link in bio to find out 🤙

A post shared by Mutha (@loveyourmutha) on Dec 28, 2018 at 11:15am PST

Ian Berry X Tonello 2018

2018 has been a busy year for Ian Berry and Tonello. And by working together it has shown that Tonello is a lot more than ‘just making machines’.

Always focusing on the customers needs, both post and after sales with ideas and practical solutions, Ian has been impressed with the what he has seen at Tonello each time he has been there with clients from around the world flying in to see what they can learn. Tonello has the ‘Creative Area’ where they can really demonstate what their machines can do, and for Ian it is much more than the Laser Blade as its that combined with the washing that has really brought his work to life.

Working closely with Alice Tonello and her skilled staff, from the R&D and marketing teams Ian has forged a strong bond with this family run Italian company and has enjoyed several trips to the northern Italian HQ this past couple of years. It has been great for him to use the tools that the industry are now using and with the company that has sustainability at its forefront.

‘Without Tonello, a lot of the installations this year would never have been able to be realised’ Ian Berry

Ian is often spoken of a sustainable, upcycling and eco artist and Tonello has technologies that respect the environment, that consume less energy, few additives, and indeed little of everything. Everything they do has the environment in mind. And its not only the environment outside, but that of the workers using the machines and also the end user, the people buying a pair of jeans.

Today, putting on a pair of jeans treated using Tonello technology means respecting oneself and one’s own health.

Ian Berry at Tonello

And it is thanks to their peoples commitment that they are known around the world as the top partner of great fashion brands, as the link between designers and companies involved in washing, dyeing and garment finishing and that has been seen on many of the trips to Italy Ian has been on where he has met many of the big names in denim, under the Tonello roof in Sarcedo, in the Province of Vicenza.

The word ‘sustainability’ for us is an ethical imperative that allows for no compromise. If it did not, we would just be machine manufacturers.

Ian Berry’s Installation in Kentucky that was made with some use of the Tonello Lazer Blade and Creative Room in Italy

Tonello has evolved over the years since 1981 having sold 7000 machines, becoming a modern, technologically advanced company that has offered the market reliable, truly ground-breaking products in garment finishing machines are known over the world for the quality of their all-Italian manufacture and top-level performance.

All this knowledge and expertise they were able to share with Ian but also to challenge the staff and their machines to push boundaries to make not garments, and not just art, but large installations. Already their collaborative efforts have been shown in New York, the South of France, Kentucky, Miami and now in London at the Soho Records installation and soon to see in San Fran, the largest install yet that will combine the flowers and this historic denim city in a public piece of art in a soon to be revealed central San Francisco location.

From lasered plants and vines, both cut and ‘etched’ to bricks and tees, to signs and washed textures, and this is only the beginning.

While most of the albums were totally hand made, some of the ones for the background were lasered in Italy with Tonello using the Laser Blade then using special washing techniques.

In Tarn, in the South of France - An installation breaks through an old factory like nature reclaiming the space.

It’s a year since the installation ‘Secret Garden’ went up in New York at the Children’s Museum of New York, which was the first time Ian Berry and Tonello had worked together on an installation - what a year it has been since.

Today Tonello is the international benchmark for the garment-processing industry and by working with an artist that shows around the world in galleries, museums, and art fairs together they are creating something really special. Ian looks forward to see tonello carry on progressing on making sustainable ways for the denim and garment industry and to further combine to make groundbreaking art installations that can inspire many people around the world.

Ian Berry showing during Art Basel Miami

photo by Austin Horton

Ian Berry is in Miami this week and shows a body of work based on the Deuce Bar.

‘I have been to Miami several times during Art Basel and this time I wanted to do something specific to Miami. I’d thought about what to do and as I spent my time going around the fairs I saw little of Miami on previous trips - other than the ‘Deuce’. I had already done my bars and pubs, mainly in London. It’s a perfect place to do in my body of works as it a bastion of a time past while much changes around, not always for the better…’ Ian said.

The oldest Bar in Miami opened in 1926 and was owned-run by Mac Klein –since 1964. Its ‘laid-back ambiance, rustic decor, pool table’ & cigarette haze (yeh you can smoke inside) jukebox making this South Beach institution a local hangout, and during Art Basel week, a place for artists, dealers and collectors to take a break - often well into the early hours.

The changing Fabric of our urban environment

In a city that changes like an indecisive chameleon, an island always for sale to the highest bidder, Mac’s joint has remained a pristine, neon-lit paradise untouched by outside forces and this continues Ian’s interest in documenting places that are at the heart of communities while all else changes.

Miami Vice threw its cast party here. Playboy named it one of the “best dive bars” (2010) in America. And Anthony Bourdain said it was one of his favorite spots in the world.

I wanted to portray the bar but there is so much to it, and I wanted to do both the inside and out, the outside with the Neon Lights scream Miami and well, I like the challenge of showing how lights hit things on the inside and a sucker for punishment with all the details in the mirror’

In an aptly titled 1989 Miami Herald article, the headline read All Kinds Make a Merry Mix At Mac’s Club Deuce which demonstrated the complete eclectic clientele the bar gets, where literally all kinds go in. Mac himself called it the Shangri-La of South Beach and these are just two of the titles of Ian’s work.

Mac died aged 101 in 2016 but his legacy lives on, almost unchanged.

see more images

Mac’s Club Deuce
222 14th Street, Miami Beach, FL 33139

See the work at

Scope Art Fair

Miami Beach Pavilion, 801 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Booth A11 Red Truck Gallery