Surface Design Show 10th-13th February

For the past five years, the Surface Design Show has earned renown for highlighting innovative new works in art and style.

The Open Gallery has long supported architects and designers - believing that art should extend beyond the gallery and into living spaces. From angular courtyard projections to panoramic loft spaces, the installations have the power to radically transform a space but can also function as windows to the outside world and thereby offer a subtle enhancement to the aesthetics of a building.

Open will be at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London on the 10th - 13th February 2009. The Out of Openness collection will be one of several on display at our exhibition stand 176.

This year the design powerhouse, Sebastian Conran, will be launching the Show on Tuesday 10th February. Open will be there with a glass (or two) of champagne in hand so come by and join us!

The Brighton Coast

It may not be the warmest time of year for a trip to Brighton, but if you do find yourself there, go to the Seattle Hotel at the Marina. The menu's good and the bar has a mixologist who can make cocktails that'll you'll need a spoon to finish. In addition to this, they have just completed a magnificent refurbishment, which includes a triple projected video installation along the entrance corridor, and a further collection of video works behind reception.

The specially commissioned series of video works in the entrance corridor by Mark Nelson hit you like a face full of salt water as you walk in, transforming the journey into an immersive experience of the immensely powerful boundary between land and sea. After emerging from the lift into the second floor reception, guests are welcomed by another series of specially commissioned video works whilst they check in. This collection is a more restrained and calmly paced exploration of a series of interactions between the natural and built world, giving a serene beauty to the destructive weathering processes which have shaped the remarkable coastline of Brighton and Hove. Isabelle Inghilleri contributed extensively to this collection, and those of you who have seen work from her collection 'Gone Tomorrow' which examines the Norwegian landscape melting in the spring will understand why the hotel were so keen for her to be involved in the commission. To see more of Isabelle's work, go to the Artists page.