Installation view of 21st Century Women curated by Fru Tholstrup and Jane Neal at Unit London, Mayfair

Marking the centenary since some women won the right to vote in Britain, London’s newest Mayfair gallery Unit celebrates the work of female artists with a major group exhibition

21st Century Women at Unit’s new space on Hanover Square opened in the wake of new research from the Freelands Foundation which showed that although 66% of postgraduate arts students in 2017 were female, just under a third of artists represented by London’s major galleries were women.

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“Though significantly more women than men enter art school in Britain, only a fraction of these women continue to actively practice as artists beyond the age of 30,” commented the exhibition’s co-curator Jane Neal. “Nonetheless, a growing number of this minority of female artists are responsible for breaking new ground and contributing to the pioneering movements of today. It is high time that women artists attained greater visibility in the art world – and there is no excuse for discrepancy in price points between men and women in the primary or in the secondary markets.”

Maggi Hambling, Edge I, oil on canvas, 2014

We speak to two of the artists taking part in the exhibition; painter Anna Freeman Bentley, and sculptor and painter Maggi Hambling whose work was recently selected by Tracey Emin to feature in a exhibition by female artists from Deutsche Bank’s collection at Frieze London and Frieze Masters

Read more: 5 exhibitions to see in London this month + 1 to miss

Maggi Hambling, Trump, oil on canvas, 2018

Maggi Hambling

1. Do you feel that your work is interpreted in a particular way because you’re a female artist?
Certainly not!

2. Tell us about how the Trump oil on canvas piece came about?
I scraped all the oil paint off my palate, onto the canvas… this revolting coalescence embodies everything I feel about Trump.

Anna Freeman Bentley, Gathering II, oil on canvas, 2018

Anna Freeman Bentley

1. You’re a relatively recent masters graduate of art school, why do you think so many women train but less than a third of artists represented by major galleries in London are female?

I could answer this question with examples from my experience and my own reflections, but they can’t necessarily be applied more generally. In some ways I don’t know. I wish that the galleries just represented the best art that is being made today, and if that were the case then the gender split would be about 50/50. But in all honesty, I think we all know that the structure, like most other things, is built in favour of men.  There’s no one person or one thing responsible for it, it’s just the way it has been for centuries. But I do think that change is happening, it just takes a long time.

Read more: Whitechapel Gallery’s Iwona Blazwick on the power of education

2. Do you feel obliged to create art that promotes female empowerment?

No. I don’t think men feel obliged to promote a male agenda much when making their work. For me, to feel empowered as a women artist is not to push a female agenda but to just make my work with confidence and ambition.

Anna Freeman Bentley, Foyer, oil on panel, 2017

3. Your work explores the design, function and use of architecture and how this changes through time and the resulting state of mind that places engender. In light of the gender imbalance in architecture and construction, does your work explore inequality?

The primary interest of my practice is exploring psychologies of space and a sense of emotive potential evoked by certain interior settings. Therefore, for me, my work isn’t about gender and inequality. Having said that, I recognise that some of my subject matter touches on gender issues. But I don’t see my work as being politicised in that way. Ideas of tension can be read into the work but these are not limited only to inequality about gender, there is tension in economic inequality, historical and current use, as well as other dichotomies relating to the objects that fill the space.

’21st Century Women’ curated by Fru Tholstrup and Jane Neal runs until 31st October 2018 at Unit London, Hanover Square, London. For more information visit: theunitldn.com

Tuscan winery owner Giovanni Dolfi, who acted as a mentor to 2016 Gaggenau Sommelier Award winner Marc Almert

The art of the Master Sommelier is steeped in tradition, but with the rise of ever-more sophisticated technology, Rebecca Gibb reports on the evolution of the role for the modern age

Hong Kong-based
sommelier Yvonne
Cheung

It was 7.30pm and the sun had descended into the western horizon, leaving another sultry evening in Hong Kong. The cacophony of car horns resounding from the tomato-coloured taxis inching their way along Queensway became a murmur, as diners ascended the 49 floors to the calm of luxury hotel The Upper House. In its restaurant, sommelier Yvonne Cheung was guiding a bottle of 1989 Cheval Blanc from its rack, as if it were a newborn. Sealed almost three decades ago when Hong Kong was still a British colony, its russet liquid was about to be released from its glass cocoon. But with no candle to hand, she gave the traditional process of decanting a modern twist, pulling out her iPhone, scrolling up and clicking the flashlight button, transferring the bottle’s precious contents with the assistance of Apple. Some 8,000 miles away, Patrick Cappiello’s lavishly tattooed arms were on full display as he sabred another bottle of prestige Champagne in a New York wine bar. Once a suit-and-tie-wearing sommelier, Cappiello encapsulates everything that has changed in the world of wine service, ditching the formal business attire, and adding a sense of fun.

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Cheung and Cappiello are key members of the sommelier revolution. The meeting of tradition and modernity in wine service has tracked fine-dining trends: in recent years hushed dining rooms, starched tablecloths and haughty waiters have been ditched in favour of less formality. This casualisation of dining has occurred at the highest level, which has also altered the appearance of sommeliers: the man or woman dishing out wine advice is just as likely to be wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the name of their favourite death-metal band as a shirt and tie. Texas-based Master Sommelier James Tidwell recalls: “Everybody used to be in suits. When I started the Court of Master Sommeliers courses, I saw people turning up in tuxedos because that was the standard of the time! Now you see sommeliers serving in jeans and T-shirts. Casualisation of dining has casualised sommeliers, but their role is still: how do you get the wine to the guest in the best possible condition? That might be baskets and candles, but it might be decanting it with your iPhone flashlight.”

The world of the modern sommelier flowed into suburban living rooms in 2012 with the release of Somm, a documentary following a group of sommeliers in pursuit of the prestigious – and often elusive – Master Sommelier (MS) qualification. Variously described as ‘rock stars of the industry’ and ‘sickly gifted’ the film raised the profiles not only of those ‘egomaniacs’ attempting to pass one of the most difficult exams in the world, but of the entire profession. Almost overnight, it became cool to be a sommelier and audiences realised it was worth listening to the guy offering wine advice (it usually is a guy – of the 249 Master Sommeliers in the world, only 25 are women).

The 21st-century sommelier

While technology has helped candle-less sommeliers decant mature bottles, it has also empowered diners. The rise of wine apps means people can now compare the average retail price of the bottle with the list price through Wine-Searcher, they can view drinker ratings on Vivino and, in 2016, a free app named Corkscrew, a ‘sommelier in your pocket’ teamed up with London restaurants, providing food and wine pairing suggestions based on the venue’s menu and wine list. Marc Almert, sommelier at five-star Zürich hotel Baur au Lac doesn’t think apps will replace sommeliers, but they may change their role. These apps, “Help the guest to be more self-assured when ordering wine,” he says. “Thus we become less of a wine consultant and more of a conversation partner. It allows us to exchange with the guests more openly.” Almert’s view of this evolution is echoed by sommeliers on both sides of the Atlantic and the Far East, but with the development of other technologies that replace the need for humans, including driverless cars, the sommelier-less wine list seems to be the logical conclusion.

Read more: Exploring the rugged beauty of Tajikistan along the Pamir Highway 

That said, a survey of 250 sommeliers across the US in 2000 found that when there was a sommelier in the dining room, more than a third of diners asked for wine recommendations, more parties ordered wine and the average bill was higher. It is apparent that some diners avoid buying wine because of the perceived risk – what if they buy something they don’t like or that won’t please their fellow diners? A sommelier can help to alleviate that fear, leading to increased sales. A more recent study of 50 restaurants in the Spanish city of Valencia also found that a knowledgeable sommelier with a well-curated wine list enhanced the customer’s satisfaction, raised the venue’s prestige and increased profitability.

Gaggenau’s head of global brand, Sven Schnee

And there is an increasing number of knowledgeable sommeliers. Since 2012 – the year Somm was released – more than 50 people have passed the MS exam, swelling its ranks by almost a third. What’s more, hundreds participate in fiercely fought sommelier competitions each year in the hope of being crowned the best sommelier in the country – and the world. These competitions aim to test the knowledge and ability of sommeliers, take them out of their comfort zone, and make them better hosts whether they win or lose. Before lunch service begins, you’re likely to find the most competitive sommeliers poring over wine maps, studying obscure appellations or trying to identify the origin and variety of wines from taste alone. The final of the biennial Gaggenau Sommelier Awards 2018 takes place in Beijing in October, bringing regional winners from North and South America, Europe and Asia. Sven Schnee, Gaggenau’s head of global brand, is also a judge. “Sommeliers are part of the culinary culture and, unlike chefs, they are heavily under-appreciated,” he says. “The sommelier has the most interaction with the customers. He must understand the components of the food, the wine and the interaction between them, but most of all, must be the perfect host.”

The UK leg of the competition was fiercely fought and judges Richard Billett, head of Maison Marques et Domaines, the UK arm of Champagne Louis Roederer, Craig Bancroft of boutique hotel and Michelin star restaurant Northcote and LUX Editor-In-Chief Darius Sanai were looking for personability as well as wine ability. “It goes without saying that a good sommelier needs to be highly knowledgeable, but knowledge is a precious quality that needs to be handled in a very careful and respectful way,” says Bancroft. “Many customers do not fully understand the role of a sommelier and sommeliers must understand that their role is to provide the customer with the best possible wine experience that suits the occasion and the price range in which the customer is comfortable.” Billett also emphasises the importance of people skills: “A good sommelier who recognises the importance of his role in the customer experience will prove to be a commercial and reputational asset for the restaurant. An arrogant and unhelpful one, a liability.”

Zareh Mesrobyan, winner of the first Gaggenau UK Sommelier Awards (centre) with fellow finalists Tamas Czinki (left) and Luca Luciani (right)

Clearly, Almert offered the full package in 2016, becoming the global winner of the Awards. Still in his twenties, he is full of energy for his profession but long – and unsociable – hours, the increasing pressures of the job, and a desire to see what else they can do beyond the dining room means that you’ll find many experienced sommeliers now working outside the restaurant business in distribution, retail and education. For example, Tidwell spent two decades on the floor but now runs an annual conference for US sommeliers, Texsom. “As you get older, being on the floor of a restaurant early in the morning and hours that are not conducive to having families or friends outside of the business is less appealing,” he says. “Plus, the wear and tear on the body will eventually add up.”

Read more: Test driving the Maserati GranTurismo MC 

However, once a sommelier, always a sommelier. Fellow MS Gearoid Devaney is the director of London-based Burgundy wine importer, Flint Wines, and runs City wine bar and restaurant Cabotte. He believes that even if you are no longer on the floor, you are a sommelier for life. “I work as a wine merchant with a sommelier outlook in terms of the service I provide and delivering wine to people. I will always work with a sommelier’s brain. It’s about being the link between the producer and the end consumer and doing that with integrity.”

Whether they are on the floor for a year, a decade or a lifetime, sommeliers are dedicated to being personable and ever more professional in the face of technological advances. Wine is the reason for a sommelier’s existence but distilled to its essence, it is about caring for people. And Bancroft predicts a bright future. “There will always be a place for a sommelier,” he says. “The human touch, the real understanding of what someone is looking for, and for a sommelier to be able to deliver that to a client, truly enhances the dining experience.”

The first Gaggenau UK Sommelier Awards

Zareh Mesrobyan, from two-Michelin-star restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Gleneagles, Scotland, has been crowned the winner of the first-ever Gaggenau UK Sommelier Awards. He will represent the UK in the global competition in Beijing in October. Mesrobyan competed against Luca Luciani from Locanda Locatelli and Tamas Czinki from Northcote in five rounds including blind tasting, food and wine pairing and service role plays. Judge Craig Bancroft said Mesrobyan has a “superb chance of success on the worldwide stage”.

For updates on the Gaggenau Sommelier Award 2018 visit: gaggenau.com

The Fann Mountains in western Tajikistan

From jagged-peak mountain ranges to glacial lakes and towering valleys, LUX Editor-at-Large Gauhar Kapparova explores Tajikistan’s incredible landscapes – perfect for thrill-seeking adventurers

Think of the world’s most iconic highways and what springs to mind? The Great Ocean Road in Australia perhaps, or Route 66 from Illinois to California in the US. What probably won’t feature on the list is the little-visited but spectacular Pamir Highway – the unofficial name for the Soviet-constructed M41 – in Tajikistan. It’s a wild, remote stretch that was once part of the ancient Silk Road and connects the country’s capital Dushanbe to Khorog, the largest town in the Pamir Mountains, and beyond that, with the Kyrgyzstan city of Osh.

Sometimes referred to as The Roof of the World because of its high altitude (up to 4,655metres at the Ak-Baital Pass, which makes it the second-highest road anywhere), the Pamir Highway weaves through the autonomous eastern region Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, and a landscape that veers from lush river valleys and pristine lakes one minute to snow-capped mountain peaks the next. In other words, this is the stuff of hardy adventurers’ dreams.

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“Tajikistan is probably the least known of all the central Asian ‘stan’ countries – and that’s saying something,” says Marc Leaderman, product and operations director at Wild Frontiers, an expert tour operator that offers tailor-made trips here. “If you look through history and the area that it occupies it has always played a frontier role. It was the southernmost extremity in Tsarist Russia during the Soviet Union; then when the Soviet Union collapsed, many of the central Asian states fell into a bad way. Tajikistan has come a long way since then, but I think that’s one of the reasons it’s not so well known – which is an exciting thing in this day and age.”

Yashikul Lake

The country’s main draw is the Pamir Highway, and for good reason. “The Pamirs are one of the least-known mountain ranges in the world; the high plateaus are extraordinary,” continues Leaderman, who has visited the country a handful of times in the past nine years. “The highway is dirt track and washed away in places, so it’s a real adventure travelling through the region. People come for the mountain scenery, to go trekking and to meet the Tajik people who draw their heritage from Persia and speak a language that closely resembles Farsi.”

From the stark Bartang Valley where friendly villagers are known for their hospitality, to Karakul, set on the eastern side of vast Karakul Lake, where life carries on as it has for centuries (women collect water from the well, men work in the fields and tend livestock), this is a raw, otherworldly route with epic surroundings that often feels like it has been preserved from the past. In Murghab, the region’s largest town and trade centre, there’s a small mosque and a makeshift bazaar operating out of old metal shipping containers where you can buy everything from fresh vegetables to mobile phones. In Rangkul, there is a salt lake and giant sand dunes that you can explore on camels. And in Bulunkul, a settlement known for being one of the coldest places in Central Asia, you can hike up a hill to glimpse the shimmering blue waters of Yashilkul Lake.

Dushanbe’s fountains and independence monument

The starting point for most travellers visiting this landlocked country – it is surrounded by Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – is the delightful city of Dushanbe (meaning ‘Monday’ after the weekly market that was once held here), which has the grand tree-lined Rudaki Avenue and the River Varzob cutting through its centre. It is a city in flux, with new skyscrapers and malls under construction to replace the Soviet-era buildings as part of a new-look urban development plan. This is one of the best places for shopping: try the Noor Art Gallery at the Hyatt Regency hotel for locally made textiles, funky jewellery and beautiful carpets.

Must-visit sites include leafy Rudaki Park, with its statue of revered Persian poet Rudaki in the rose garden; the gold-decorated monument of Ismoil Somoni, built to commemorate the founder of the Samanid dynasty (the Tajik national currency, the somoni is named after him); and hilltop Victory Park with panoramic views of the city below. There is also a trio of museums: the National Museum, the National Museum of Antiquities (don’t miss the 13-metre sleeping Buddha) and the Ethnography Museum, featuring a collection of traditional Tajikistan clothing. All three offer fascinating insights into the country’s cultural heritage.

Wildflowers in the Pamir Botanical Gardens

There is another museum to be found in Khorog – the second, smaller town at the other end of the Tajikistan section of the Pamir Highway. The Museum of Khorog, which houses the first piano in the Pamirs (the story goes that 10 Russian soldiers spent two months carrying it over the mountains from Osh in the early 20th century). The town’s other highlights include the Pamir Botanical Garden; the City Park, which features a pond and tea house; and the Khorog bazaar, a morning market in a central building that spills out into small kiosks by the river, where you can buy souvenirs such as traditional woollen socks and velvet Pamir hats.

Read more: We test drive the Maserati GranTurismo MC on a road-trip through France

From there, many visitors take a detour to the Wakhan Valley Corridor, a land of pretty villages, hot springs and impressive fortresses (the Bibi Fatima spring, just above the Yamchun Fortress is perhaps the most famous) and with views of the Hindu Kush, the mountains that mark the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

A golden monument to Ismoil Somoni in Dushanbe

Cities aside, the other place worth visiting is the Fann Mountains, where the peaks soar to more than 5,000 metres. Not far from Dushanbe and more accessible than the Pamir Highway, the Fann Mountains are known for their series of seven lakes. The jewel in the crown is glacial Iskanderkul Lake (60 percent of the water resources in Central Asia originate from glaciers in Tajikistan) named after Alexander the Great during his campaign to defeat the Persian Empire in 334 BC. Several folklore legends are connected to the lake: the first is that during the campaign against the regions of Sogdiana and Bactria the late conqueror faced resistance in the mountain villages so ordered to change the flow of the river to drown the disobedient – and this is how the lake was formed. Another goes that this is where his horse Bucephalus drowned during battle so, at midnight under a full moon, locals can hear the horse neigh.

Read more: 5 exhibitions to see in London this month + 1 to miss

There are many treks across the mountains, all of different lengths and aimed at different capabilities. On a rare piece of flat ground is the city of Penjikent, often labelled the ‘Pompeii of Central Asia’ for its archaeological significance – it contains the ruins of an ancient town that was once a city on the Silk Road. From here, it’s a hop over the newly opened border to Uzbekistan.

Yamchun Fortress was once an important point on the ancient Silk Road

“What’s really exciting is that this year, the border has opened for the first time in about five years,” says Leaderman. “It means that there is now the chance to combine visiting these two great countries easily. The Uzbek city of Samarkand is only an hour’s drive from Tajikistan and a real highlight. It’s great for culture but quite flat and scenically not so exciting, but together with the amazing mountain ranges in Tajikistan, it makes for a wonderful trip.”

Where to stay: Hyatt Regency Dushanbe

Base yourself at the Hyatt Regency Dushanbe

Within the grounds of City Park and adjacent to Lake Komsomolsee, the Hyatt Regency Dushanbe is the smartest hotel in the capital. Contemporary rooms come with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake, mountains or presidential palace, and grey marble bathrooms with heated floors. There is a lobby bar and lounge with an outside terrace, a pastry shop for sweet treats and the Focaccia Grill, which features a mix of international and Mediterranean dishes on the menu (watch as chefs at various stations prepare the daily specials). The 24-hour concierge is on hand to help plan what to see and do in the city and beyond; then when you return, the indoor heated swimming pool, sauna and spa is the perfect place to relax. Other services and amenities on offer include a gym and a fully-staffed business centre.

hyatt.com

Somon Air is Tajikistan’s national carrier

How to get there: Somon Air

The national airline operates regular flights to and from Germany, Turkey, China and Russia.

somonair.com

This article was originally published in the Autumn 2018 issue. View more content from The Beauty Issue

The Maserati MY18 GranTurismo MC is a candidate for the most beautiful car on the road

We take the Maserati MY18 GranTurismo MC on a road-trip through France to test for comfort, power and satisfaction

Focus groups, aerodynamics, safety laws – there are a lot of elements to blame for the standardisation of today’s car designs. A room full of cars from the 1960s is a panoply of distinctive, flamboyant creations. As we approach 2020, a common critique is that often you can’t tell one car brand from another.

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Which gave us particular joy as we bowled through the French countryside in the Maserati MY18 GranTurismo MC. The car’s sweeping curves look stunning – it is a candidate for the most beautiful car on the road – and its engine, derived from Ferrari’s V8 engine which powered the 430 and 458 supercars, sounds wonderful – in fact, Maserati have coaxed an even better sound out of its version than Ferrari did from theirs. There’s a long, hollow bellow every time you even think about accelerating.

The GranTurismo wants to be everything: it sounds like a Ferrari, but the suggestion that it’s a ‘Grand Touring’ car means it also wishes to be a laid-back cruiser across continents, and that’s exactly what we used it for.

The ambience inside the car is exactly right

It’s certainly never dull. Whether flying out of a toll booth or opening up after leaving the confines of a village, it emits a rising series of gurgles and roars that signal its enthusiasm for gaining speed. ‘MC Stradale’ signifies Maserati’s most sporting setup, and, with the suspension in its firmest mode, it corners flat and fast, although drivers of Ferraris would wish for more feedback from the steering and the chassis. It’s rapid and secure, but perhaps less of a sports car than you might expect, the long nose and overall weight making you remember you are in what is quite a large car, despite its sporting ambitions.

Set the suspension to its softer setting and the ride is comfortable to match the Grand Touring ambitions, but this also results in quite a lot of body roll if you try and corner fast.

Read more: Instagram influencer Tamara Koen’s guide to Milan

The interior feels delicious. In German cars, leather often looks and feels like plastic; in British cars, it smells like an old Chesterfield; somehow the Italians got the texture and ambience inside the GranTurismo exactly right. Many cars of this category offer only an excuse for back seats – if you try and get anyone with legs in the back of a Ferrari California, you’ll rapidly hear protests – but the Maserati is moderately comfortable in the back, even over a long journey, although headroom is limited and basketball players, for example, would emerge with cricked necks. The front is comfortable, but we had a couple of niggles: we never quite fell in love with the driving position; the seats seemed to slightly lack shape and support; the engine does feel loud on a long drive; and the sat-nav system isn’t as advanced as on some cars.

If there’s one word that summarises the GranTurismo, it’s ‘character’. Many cars, even high-performance ones, look, sound and drive in an anodyne way. The Maserati looks and sounds brilliant; if it only drives well, and not brilliantly, that likely won’t bother most prospective buyers.

LUX Rating: 18/20
maserati.com

Travel and culture enthusiast and Instagram influencer Tamara Koen

Born in Brazil to Greek parents, travel and culture enthusiast and Instagram influencer Tamara (@tkloves) has lived in Italy and France and loves to visit new places. She’s passionate about architecture, design and fashion, all of which and more, as she tells LUX Editor-At- Large Gauhar Kapparova, can be found in Milan

LUX Editor-at-Large, Gauhar
Kapparova

LUX: What’s the most exciting place in Milan for you and why?
Tamara Koen: The Porta Nuova district is one of the most exciting areas in Milan. It changed the skyline of the city with new skyscrapers and modern buildings, while maintaining a touch of old Milano in the little streets adjacent to it.

Dior Tote

LUX: Where do you go to relax?
Tamara Koen: The Four Seasons Spa is one of my favourite places to relax. I also enjoy having tea or a cocktail at the Bulgari Hotel in its beautiful garden in the very centre of the city.

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Fendi’s multicolour logo Kan I bag

LUX: What’s the best table at the best restaurant, and what do you eat there?
Tamara Koen: In the fall and winter seasons, I enjoy having dinner at Il Baretto, a restaurant for regular customers. The most-wanted tables are in the cosy smoking room. I would order tagliolini al gratin or riso al salto. In spring and summer, I like eating fish and seafood at the Langosteria Cafè. The room on the left of the restaurant offers better tables. Linguine alle vongole and the granchio alla catalana are two excellent dishes.

A cuff from Buccellati’s Blossoms collection

LUX: Are there any emerging designers you recommend (fashion, jewellery, interiors)?
Tamara Koen: I am in love with the feminine style of Johanna Ortiz, Ceccotti’s amazing design pieces and Buccellati’s Blossoms collection, created by Lucrezia Buccellati.

LUX: What are your fashion week tips?
Tamara Koen: Have a map of Milan’s public transport because it may be difficult to find a cab or an Uber. And book your restaurants in advance.

LUX: What about Salone del Mobile?
Tamara Koen: Have long walks in the city centre or in the areas around Via Savona and the Navigli. Do not forget to look at the courtyards, which are a hidden beauty of Milan. And after a long day, enjoy a massage at the hotel!

Tamara loves to relax at the Bulgari Hotel

A chair by iconic furniture brand Ceccotti

LUX: What is the perfect outfit (including accessories) for a night out at La Scala?
Tamara Koen: Nothing too flashy, a little black dress suits perfectly. Bear in mind that Milanese elites are elegant and sober. At the Scala, music, not the audience, is at the centre. Fashionable accessories will suffice.

LUX: Is there somewhere to go out in Milan where you can escape and be casual?
Tamara Koen: Dry Milano has very good pizza and cocktails in a casual atmosphere.

The Spa at Four Seasons Milan

LUX: What don’t you like about Milan?
Tamara Koen: The weather and the air pollution.

Read more: Model and musician Rebeca Marcos on self confidence 

LUX: How has the city changed in the years you have been there?
Tamara Koen: Milan has redeveloped and modernised some old neighbourhoods—including but not exclusively, its city centre.

The skyline of Milan’s Porta Nuova district

LUX: What other Instagram accounts should we be following (apart from yours, @tkloves)?
Tamara Koen: @upcloseandstylish and @bycamelia.

LUX: If you could bring one thing to Milan from Brazil, what would it be?
Tamara Koen: The music.

Follow Tamara Koen on Instagram at @tkloves

Model and musician Rebeca Marcos. Image courtesy of Models 1

LUX contributing editor and model at Models 1, Charlie Newman continues her online exclusive series, interviewing her peers about their creative pursuits, passions and politics

Charlie Newman

THIS MONTH: Born in Germany and raised in Spain, 25-year-old Rebeca Marcos has achieved a remarkable amount in a quarter of a century. She started modelling at the age of 20 whilst studying for her Undergraduate Degree in Politics at City University and has since starred in campaigns for Whistles, Armani Exchange and The Kooples, and walked for the likes of John Galliano. She also plays music as part of electro-dance duo Park Hotel. Charlie speaks to Rebeca about self-confidence, career highlights and philanthropy

Charlie Newman: What was it like growing up in Spain and how easy was the adjustment moving to the UK?
Rebeca Marcos: My upbringing was wonderful. Family gatherings were always big and long, I was spoiled for food and good weather. We were encouraged to dance and perform for our family and the beach was super close. My neighbours and I used to go exploring the woods as small children and later on, I joined the scouts at school and we used to go to this old watermill that had no electricity or running water and also no parents nearby so that was wonderful.

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As a teenager Barcelona was a great city to be – very multicultural and beautiful. After school, in the warmer months, we could go to the beach just to hang out and even in winter it’s always sunny. I was a very happy child. I went to a German school from Kindergarten through to the 12th grade, so I grew up in a strange place culturally speaking. They are very opposite cultures in many ways so moving to London didn’t really feel like a cultural shock. I’m quite sensitive and introverted so I think I internalised the British default setting of being reserved and socially awkward quite quickly. I could read the discomfort in peoples faces with the slightest bit of over sharing, but London is also the place where I learnt manners! Either way, I was one of those European teenagers who loved Harry Potter and my graduation gown was of the colours of Gryffindor so I was living the life, plus the music scene [in London] is so much more stimulating than Barcelona’s.

Image by Rob Aparicio via Instagram @rebecamarcosroca

Charlie Newman: You have graced the pages of many high fashion glossies as well as walking for top brands on the runway. What has been your favourite job so far?
Rebeca Marcos: That’s such a hard question! I have had so many nice experiences and been lucky to work with some amazing creative geniuses. Years ago, I did a shoot for Urban Outfitters with Magdalena Wosinska and we just spent days hanging out topless in nature, riding quad bikes at Dave England’s house (a stunt performer in Jackass) and listening to music. It was great fun. But then I also shot the s/s15 campaign for Phillip Lim in Marrakech with Viviane Sassen and that was like a dream. Everything was beautiful, everyone was chill, we shot without hair and make up and then had a day left to go explore the YSL museum and the Souks. The wonderful production team (who had just finished working on Mission Impossible) helped me buy a gorgeous rug which they took to the hotel for me and I still have. The pictures are still some of my favourites and honestly, I think it was one of the most inspiring shoots I’ve ever been a part of. I also really love Christopher Kane both as a human and a designer. Fitting and walking for him is a very graceful experience.

Charlie Newman: If you could shoot with any photographer who would it be and why?
Rebeca Marcos: Carlota Guerrero. She is a brilliant photographer from Barcelona and I love her work and I bet she is a great human to work with.

Instagram @rebecamarcosroca

Charlie Newman: You shot The Kooples S/S15 campaign with your boyfriend – what was that like
Rebeca Marcos: It was a great experience. They are some of the nicest pictures we have together and it’s always wonderful to shoot with your best friend and in Paris. It was also the first time I shot with my guitar on set and in a way it was great to have Kristian there, but it was also a challenging experience which I grew from. He was the musician in the room, he was getting all the attention for that and I didn’t know if it was the fact that I am a model, or the fact that I am a girl in the underrepresented world of female musicians, or if I was being oversensitive and too insecure about my musical side. I really had to pull my pride together and to say: “No, actually I’m going to pull my guitar out as well. Nobody has invited me to do so but I’m not just going to stand here as a hot groupie because I really don’t think I need to.” It was awkward but I am so glad I did. It was a drama that happened exclusively in my head mind you, but still it was a very important experience for me.

Read more: How Los Angeles became a world-class art capital

Charlie Newman: How easy was the transition from modelling to musician? Do you find they compliment one another or do you find you have to prove yourself twice as much?
Rebeca Marcos: Well I don’t think I ever transitioned. Modelling is something I don’t think you can have any control over, it’s something that happens around you while you are “being yourself”. We are like muses for hire. I have done music since before I started modelling and I’m still doing both. There’s always people who think that if you are beautiful you can’t have any skills but who cares? Not me, I’m the one with both. I don’t look in the mirror and go, “shit I’m too beautiful to write some music today.” Who the hell thinks like that? People think they are ugly and stupid, when really their only problem is their self-esteem and binary thinking. I don’t subscribe to the capitalist idea that one has to work hard to be valued. I think if you love yourself then people won’t be distracted by your insecurities and instead pay more attention to whatever you want to express. They’ll figure out your value by themselves. And if they don’t, block them! I work with passion and that is always more productive than trying to prove yourself to imagined strangers. And if I’m supposed to work twice as hard then I’m probably heading for failure. I hope I’m not. Anyway, I definitely think music and fashion go hand-in-hand. They are both informed by and inform culture, and they inspire one another. So in theory it should be easier for me to work in both. We’ll see!

Charlie Newman: So can you tell us a bit about your band Park Hotel?
Rebeca Marcos: Park Hotel is a dance band. We are a duo fronting it, but we are really a great live band of up to 6 musicians: guitars, synths, drums and percussion. The sound has a post-punk feel to it, but it’s hugely influenced by funk, EDM and even disco. But it’s got a bit of a dark vibe too. It’s like a nihilistic party. Me and Tim – the other half of the duo – met 4 years ago. He had been concocting this project in his head for a while and we’ve been gigging for a couple of years now loving life.

Charlie Newman: What music did you grow up listening to? Do you come from a musical family?
Rebeca Marcos: Yes and no. My parents aren’t very musical but my sisters played violin, cello and piano whilst I was growing up. My dad exclusively listened to about 5 different albums of about 4 different bands, the only international ones being Pink Floyd and Santana – great musical taste, just a little limited. My sisters and my mum just liked the radio, and my sisters were hugely into the Spice Girls, Shakira and Britney Spears. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I got to expand my musical horizons and I found out that Pink Floyd’s early stuff was a whole different kind of psychedelic.

Image courtesy of Models 1

Charlie Newman: In light of the #MeToo movement, is there anything within the fashion and music industry you would like to see change?
Rebeca Marcos: Well, I believe values are stronger and more reliable sources of change than rules. Sure, models shouldn’t be sent to photographers that are predatory and same with producers that never get called out on by money-minded labels. But both industries are becoming more and more saturated, women just need to keep standing up for themselves and getting together, and the roles that are available to be played by individuals of any gender should be more fluid. If people truly focused on being more compassionate and respectful from the get go, these things wouldn’t be hard to understand, no matter how privileged you are.

Charlie Newman: What advice would you give to young models starting out now?
Rebeca Marcos: Be strong, focus on your happiness and try to experience the teenage years of your career as life experiences and not as career building. Young girls shouldn’t be expected to have figured out what type of brand they want to develop, or be pressured into having a stellar career immediately.

Charlie Newman: Are there any philanthropic causes that you are particularly passionate about?
Rebeca Marcos: The charity of *Talk To Your Local Homeless Person* even if you just say: “how is it going?” and spare some change. They need to be humanised and we are all individually responsible for the people who have fallen through the cracks of our society and need help. We don’t have to give change to every single one of them, that is not our responsibility, but at least keep them and their pain in mind, because that is the least we can do.

Follow Rebeca Marcos on Instagram @rebecamarcosrosa  and her musical endeavours via @parkhotelband

Eamon Ore-Giron’s monumental mural ‘Angelitos Negros’ (2018), shown at the 2018 biennial ‘Made in L.A.’ at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles

No longer an outlier from the busy Europe– New York art corridor, Los Angeles is rapidly becoming a serious contender as a thriving hub on the world art scene. Janelle Zara looks at the people and places that are making the City of Angels hot, hot, hot

This autumn in LA, Ai Weiwei season is in full swing. The Berlin-based Chinese conceptual artist and political activist has not one but three major, concurrent exhibitions across the city – one at Jeffrey Deitch’s new Hollywood gallery, one at the Marciano Art Foundation and one at the new UTA Artist Space in Beverly Hills. With his LA debut coming three decades into his career, it prompts the question: all this time, has Ai been saving the best city for last?

The delay in Ai’s arrival to the City of Angels may lie closer to the fact that none of these venues existed before 2017: the Marciano Art Foundation opened in a defunct Masonic temple in May last year; the new UTA Artist Space, redesigned in part by Ai, opened in July; and his show with Deitch is the space’s very first. They’re part of the LA art scene expansion that is taking place at warp speed, one powered by a booming artist population and a corresponding wave of new galleries and museums.

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For all of its recent history, Los Angeles has been anchored by powerhouse institutions: the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA); UCLA (where you could once take classes with the ground-breaking conceptual artist John Baldessari); and CalArts, where you can still take classes with the famous African-American abstractionist Charles Gaines (who is likely to come out and attend your exhibition opening). And yet, as far as the art world was concerned, history took place between New York and Europe. Like the rest of the world, Los Angeles was an afterthought, a home for surfers and movie stars.

Installation view of John Baldessari’s 2017 show at Sprüth Magers gallery, Los Angeles

Seemingly overnight, however, it has become a world-class art capital. Recent years have seen major milestones that have put Los Angeles on the global stage: mega-collectors such as Eli and Edythe Broad as well as Maurice and Paul Marciano have opened destinations at which to showcase their holdings, courting the likes of Olafur Eliasson and Ai Weiwei to do their first major projects in LA. Major galleries, too, have opened LA outposts to be closer to their blue-chip artists. For Hauser & Wirth, that was Mark Bradford and Larry Bell; for Sprüth Magers, Baldessari and Sterling Ruby. And, of course, the inaugural Frieze LA, sponsored by Deutsche Bank, will take place in February 2019.

Read more: 5 exhibitions to see in London this month + 1 to miss

In September 2017, ‘Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA’ embraced the West Coast’s exclusion from the New York/European canon by emphasizing its connection to Latin America. ‘Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA’ was a blockbuster moment with its thematic syncing of more than 70 institutions. Curators, funded by The Getty, had the opportunity to travel to Latin America and relay the art narratives seldom told, some amassing as much as seven years’ worth of research. The results were powerhouse exhibitions such as MOCA Pacific Design Center’s ‘Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano LA’, a survey of art that emerged in the Gay Liberation movement of the 1970s, or the Hammer Museum’s staggering feminist 260-piece ‘Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985’. It’s one of the few shows to originate in Los Angeles and then travel to New York, rather than the other way around.

Where ‘Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA’ took place inside more than 70 institutions at once, the new biennial Desert X took place in none. The first edition last February took art-goers on an epic scavenger hunt across the Coachella Valley, where artists including Richard Prince, Tavares Strachan and Will Boone took over derelict buildings and made massive incisions in the sandy earth. Doug Aitken, who built a mirrored hilltop kaleidoscope the size and shape of a small suburban house, described the event as “a vast sprawling parkour… where suburbia ends and the landscape begins”.

Endless Creative Space

In the 1960s, the Light and Space movement, with artists such as Doug Wheeler, James Turrell and Robert Irwin, was making experimental inquiries into sensory deprivation, visual perception, and the glossiness of automotive paint. In 2018, light and space are highly prized amenities that in cities such as New York and London are increasingly hard to come by. In Los Angeles, land of eternal sunshine, studio spaces are large, as is the distance between them (although lately rents have risen at an alarming rate). LA’s art scene is as vast as its geography, stretching from the shoreline into the mountains and out into the desert. See, for example, Doug Aitken in Venice Beach, Charles Long in Mount Baldy, and Andrea Zittel in the arid plains of Joshua Tree, where her collective practice revolves around survival in the desert.

Read more: Deutsche Bank’s PalaisPopulaire is changing Berlin’s art scene

It’s the kind of landscape that breeds autonomy, as exemplified by designer David Wiseman and his brother, former Guggenheim Deputy Director Ari Wiseman. After several years of David being represented by Tribeca-based gallery R & Company, he and Ari purchased and refurbished a 30,000-square-foot factory complex in LA’s Frogtown neighborhood where David could both produce and exhibit his work himself on site. Elsewhere along the LA River, French painter Claire Tabouret relishes the kind of solitude she could never enjoy at home. Inside her former industrial space-turned-studio, she spends “eight or nine hours inside not talking”, a real luxury in France, where you’re bound to bump into someone. For true peace and quiet, Tabouret also makes work in a small house she purchased in Pioneertown, a tiny Wild West city out in the desert with “no phone, no internet, no nothing”.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles

Solitude, on the other hand, is optional. Geographical barriers also breed tribes. There’s a conviviality rather than a competition among LA artists, particularly artists on the East Side who run spaces for other artists to show. From the Ruberta gallery in Glendale to the artist-run platform BBQLA downtown, openings are no formal affairs. Rather than white wine and polite conversation, you’re greeted by tacos and a cooler full of beer.

“I was surprised by just how small it feels compared with New York, but that also makes for a communitarian vibe,” says gallerist Kibum Kim, who moved to LA in early 2016. He’s a partner at artist Young Chung’s Commonwealth & Council (CwC), a Koreatown space Chung founded in 2010 and initially ran in his living room. Their work is less driven by the market than the desire to build communities, evidenced by the fact that Chung “didn’t make a sale for years”.

Read more: Gallerist Angela Westwater on inspiring women in the art world

“Many artists we work with have practices that eschew the Western notion of the individual artist genius and bring in their peers and make work that is collaborative,” adds Kim, citing partnerships between Rafa Esparza and Beatriz Cortez, or Candice Lin and Patrick Staff, all four of whom have now shown in the Hammer Museum’s prestigious biennial survey of the city’s mid-career and emerging artists, ‘Made in L.A.’. The institutional recognition affirms Chung’s diligence, Kim says. “I have to believe something like CwC can thrive in the art world, even in this hyper-accelerated, market-dominant environment.”

Nothing is Too Weird

“Los Angeles, as a subject of art history, has a few chapters to celebrate,” says Hamza Walker, director of non-profit art space LAXART, citing the Ferus Gallery days of the 1960s (the gallery closed in 1966) and ‘The Pictures Generation’ of the 1980s (a seminal exhibition curated by writer and historian Douglas Crimp at New York-based Artists Space, which explored artistic communities in New York, Buffalo and LA). Those days have passed, however, and LAXART’s focus is very much on the art of the present. Founded in 2005 as a platform for emerging artists with nowhere to show, LAXART, in light of all the young galleries that have emerged to pick up on those duties, pivoted its mission this year to respond to urgent cultural and political matters. Over the summer, Walker presented ‘Remote Castration’, a group exhibition responding to the #MeToo movement. Over the course of the show, the façade of the Santa Monica Boulevard building featured a portrait of Hollywood by Barbara Kruger – not the Hollywood of movie stars, but a sector of the city where pawn shops, dollar stores and sex work reign. Words such as “BREAK IT→OWN IT→STEAL IT→LOAN IT” were painted across the top, with the palette of black, white and green hitting the standard aesthetics of the surrounding marijuana dispensaries.

The artist Ai Weiwei

As an OG enfant terrible, Kruger’s work has questioned the authorship of the status quo since the 1970s. The artists of this year’s ‘Made in L.A.’ at the Hammer seem to have picked up the torch, serving narratives excluded from the textbook art historical canon. Megan Whitmarsh and Jade Gordon built a collaborative parody of a typical LA New Age wellness institute with the very real intention of reframing the female life cycle as cause for empowerment. Lauren Halsey erected a monument to her native South Central LA and its residents in the shape of an Egyptian tomb, and it was Eamon Ore-Giron’s monumental Angelitos Negros (2018), a mural stretching the height of the museum’s grand staircase, that greeted visitors and set the tone of the show. Ore- Giron has arranged the circular motifs inherent to his work in a composition resembling the movements of the sun and moon. While his strong geometries typically evoke comparisons to the work of European modernists, he explains, they’re based on Peruvian abstraction of the 1200 and 1300s.

Ore-Giron’s mural is emblematic of the forward-facing art that defines LA now. It asks audiences to re-evaluate their understanding of the past, particularly concepts of Western art history. The appeal of LA lies in its cultural diversity, an atmosphere that, like his mural, “both elevates and alters the way we read the past,” says Ore-Giron. And from the past, into a bright, shining future.

This article first appeared in the Autumn 2018 Issue in partnership with Deutsche Bank. Browse more content here: The Beauty Issue

Christian Marclay “The Clock”, Installation View. Tate Modern

Frieze art fair might be over, but London’s still the top destination for art this month, says Digital Editor Millie Walton. Here are five exhibitions that you should see… and one that’s not worth the hype

1. Christian Marclay: The Clock, Tate Modern

Christian Marclay‘s epic 24 hour film made up of movie scenes which correspond exactly with the actual time is a masterpiece. Clear your schedule and settle in for the long haul, the more you watch, the more addictive it becomes. If you want the full experience, there are a handful of 24 hour screenings in which you can watch the film from start to finish, and leave with an acute awareness of the rhythm that dictates our lives.

Until 20 January 2019 at Tate Modern

Installation view of Richard Wilson, 20:50, (1987) at “Space Shifters”, © copyright the artist, courtesy Hayward Gallery 2018. Photo: Mark Blower

2. Space Shifters, Hayward Gallery

Some might recall staggering around the Hayward Gallery back in 2015, wearing Carsten Höller‘s goggles that flipped your view upside down? This is another perception-warping exhibition featuring work Richard Wilson’s 20:50 oil room (as seen in the old Saatchi Gallery) and various mirrors that reshape your silhouette beyond recognition. Be warned you might leave a little shaky-legged and light-headed.

Until 6 January 2019 at Hayward Gallery

Elmgreen & Dragset’s fictional swimming pool at Whitechapel Gallery

3. Elmgreen & Dragset: This is how we bite our tongue, Whitechapel Gallery

For their latest exhibition, the notorious Berlin-based art duo has built an entire swimming pool inside Whitechapel Gallery and given it a fake history that dates back to 1901. As usual, the work is filled with fun and subversion. The most striking piece is of a little boy staring up at a framed gun on the wall as if in awe, reminding us of how firearms are frequently glamorised and easily obtained by children in many countries.

Until 13 January 2019 at Whitechapel Gallery

Doris Salcedo, “Palimpsest” 2013 – 2017. Concrete, water and hydraulic system. © the artist. Photo by Patrizia Tocci. Courtesy White Cube

4. Doris Salcedo, White Cube Bermondsey

Colombian sculptor Doris Salcedo‘s latest exhibition is a powerful and moving examination of  “old news” and enduring pain. The ground is scrawled with the names of refugees and migrants who have died and been forgotten, whilst tables have been broken apart and reassembled, showing the scars to represent rape victims who have been left broken by abuse.

Until 11 November 2018 at White Cube Bermondsey

Mika Rottenberg, “
Mary’s Cheries”. Single-channel video installation. Courtesy of the artist and Julia Stoschek Foundation. Installation view: Goldsmiths CCA, 2018. Image credit: Andy Keats, 2018

5. Mika Rottenberg, Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art

The gallery’s inaugural exhibition is a mad explosion of imagery, texture and objects, exploring the inequalities of our global economy, in particular female production lines. In one film a woman sneezes out noodles while watering a pair of feet. It’s bewildering and a lot of fun.

Until 4 November 2018 at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art

MISS: Yayoi Kusama – The Moving Moment When I Went To The Universe, Victoria Miro

No doubt you’ve seen the pictures on Instagram of the Japanese artist’s latest psychedelic installation. You might even have considered booking a ticket (after all, if everyone’s posting about it, it must be good), but your time can be better spent (see above). This is an exhibition made for social media – it’s superficial and neatly branded right down to giant, spotted pumpkins – one can’t help but feel that the sole purpose of it is to look good. You’ll get the pic but you won’t be moved.

Until 21 December at Victoria Miro Gallery

Originally called the Prinzessinnenpalais, Deutsche Bank’s PalaisPopulaire opened in September this year

Featuring over 300 works by some of the art world’s biggest names alongside emerging artists, Deutsche Bank’s new exhibition space, the PalaisPopulaire, presents a museum-quality show of inter-generational exploring the numerous ways in which artists work on paper – and with surprising results. Anna Wallace-Thompson hopped over to Berlin to check out its inaugural show, The World on Paper

What would be the art world equivalent of a kid walking into a candy shop? Probably something akin to walking through swish, space-age sliding doors into a room to find oneself surrounded by names such as Joseph Beuys, Marcel Dzama, William Kentridge, Imran Qureshi, Katharina Grosse, James Rosenquist, Dieter Roth, Andy Warhol, Bruce Nauman, Gerhard Richter… the list goes on. And on. And on. To say that the inaugural exhibition of Deutsche Bank’s new arts, culture and sports space at the fittingly titled PalaisPopulaire is something of a showstopper is to put it mildly.

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Opening in late September after extensive renovations, the 18th century venue – originally called the Prinzessinnenpalais – has been remade twice during its colourful history, once in the 1960s, when it became a sort of ‘it’ destination, and now by architectural firm Kuehn Malvezzi. In its newest shiny incarnation it offers over 750 square metres of exhibition space, and The World on Paper brings together 300 works (you guessed it, on paper) by 133 artists from 34 countries. “The focus of this show was really to present the heart of our collection,” says Friedhelm Hütte, curator of the show and head of Deutsche Bank’s worldwide art programme. “Paper is so interesting because artists write on it, they use it as a kind of diary, they can cut it, make three dimensional works, and so we thought – this is almost like the laboratory of an artist, you can see what they are thinking, watch that process of how they develop their ideas. Paper is a very authentic medium and often so innovative – first ideas are often fixed on paper.”

Study for “The Swimmer in the Economist,”, 1996/97James Rosenquist

The exhibition is divided into three sections, with visitors invited to explore these different ‘worlds’ across three floors, wandering through investigations of the body and self-image, abstraction on paper, and examinations of urban spaces and technology. It could be a messy combination of disparate subject matters, yet somehow it’s not. “It was also important for us to present more than just the big names, the ‘hit list’, as it were,” says Hütte. “We wanted to have some surprises and show artists either who aren’t that widely known, or little-known works by well-known artists, such as the early works by Gerhard Richter we’ve selected.”

“DeLuxe”, 2004/05 Ellen Gallagher. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo credit: Alex Delfanne

In fact, it would be easy for an exhibition like this to pay lip service to big names and act simply as a promotional tool for that ‘hit list’, and the grandeur of Deutsche Bank’s (admittedly impressive) corporate collection. In fact, what is so interesting about The World on Paper is precisely that it is not a ‘safe’ show – after all, corporate collections can so easily become bland lists of big names, ticked off with due diligence but with little willingness to push the envelope into uncomfortable territory. Not so here. See, for example, Iranian artist Parastou Forouhar’s untitled pieces from her series Take off Your Shoes (2001/2002), which depict women in chadors dealing with the bureaucracy of the Islamic regime. Then there is the riot of delight that is American artist Ellen Gallagher’s multi-piece grid of photogravures, DeLuxe (2004/05). Take an array of magazines and promotional materials from the 1930s to 1970s, then remake them with interventions in screen print, embossing, laser cutting, tattoo engraving (yes, really) and Plasticine and what do you get? A bitingly witty investigation of cultural identity and race through the countless advertisements for beauty creams, hair pomades, wigs and more, that have been targeted at African Americans. “Of course we could have put together a show without any risks,” says Hütte. “We could simply have focused on the big names and the big works, but this is what one would expect, and what would be interesting about that?”

Read more: The Secret Diary of an Oxford Undergraduate – Freshers’ Week

One of the most delightful surprises is the sense of delicacy that winds its way through the works. There are the bold heavy-hitters, of course – the Rosenquists, the Kentridges – but there is immense tenderness too, such as in the evocative Heartbeat Drawing 24 Hour (1998) by Japanese artist Sasaki, or Evelyn Taocheng Wang’s witty take on traditional Chinese manuscripts in My History (2008), in which traditional Chinese painting meets life in the UK (complete with punting in Cambridge). “There are very special pieces here that one wouldn’t expect,” agrees Svenja Gräfin von Reichenbach, director of the PalaisPopulaire. “I find the three drawings by Bruce Naumann we have on display particularly special, as well as the paper works by Richter – they are so private.”

“Moondiver II” by Zilla Leutenegger at Deutsche Bank’s PalaisPopulaire

Ultimately, The World on Paper is a great barometer of our times – it stretches from Post-war Modernism all the way to the present day, and marks the increasingly international nature of Deutsche Bank’s collection. “We wanted this so be our first really international show,” says Hütte. “The character of the collection has completely changed during the last decade, and of our 50,000 works, here we have 134 artists from 34 nations represented.”

Perhaps the best indicator of what the show represents – and what it promises for the future of the PalaisPopulaire – is the playful intervention in the main space’s rotunda. Here, Zilla Leutenegger has installed a multimedia mural and video projection entitled Moondiver II. As visitors wander through the impressive space with its winding staircase, a large, starkly-drawn black construction crane carries a delicate, luminous moon back and forth. It’s that combination of bold and delicate, traditional mural and contemporary video projection that sums up The World on Paper: everything is possible, and this is just the beginning.

“The World on Paper” runs until 7 January 2019 at PalaisPopulaire