LONDON — London’s nightlife may be a sleepy one, but the social calendar is well and alive.
After the buzz of London Fashion Week, the city is enjoying another high — the Frieze London art fair.
At the fair’s permanent exhibition space on 9 Cork Street, 16Arlington’s creative director Marco Capaldo has curated an exhibition titled “Memories of the Future” with a helping hand from the art gallery Almine Rech featuring the works of Andy Warhol, John Giorno, Francesca Woodman, Marie Laurencin and more until Oct. 19.
The opening image of the exhibition features a polaroid taken by Andy Warhol.
Courtesy of 16Arlington
The first two pieces in the showcase are of two framed Polaroids of a lotus flower taken by Warhol that conjured up deep poignancy for the designer.
Capaldo in his research found a book on the American artist, which happened to be the last book that Kikka Cavenati, his partner in both life and work, who passed away in 2021 following a sudden illness, had bought and was reading at the time.
“I felt there was something inside this book and as I opened it, I’d completely forgotten, but I had actually pressed a flower from Kikka’s funeral bouquet and it was an orchid. It felt very fitting to include [Warhol’s] Polaroid in the show and they became the starting point of the exhibition,” he said in a preview, adding that Warhol had taken the images on a Polaroid camera that came out in 1971 and was quickly discontinued in 1973.
A haunting photograph by Francesca Woodman.
Courtesy of 16Arlington
The London-based designer has been working on the curation for more than a year and saw many parallels to putting together a fashion collection.
He took it on himself to champion British artists in the exhibition, such as Remi Ajani, Henry Curchod, Alexandra Metcalf and Jesse Pollock, whom he collaborated with for the set of his spring 2025 collection with palm tree sculptures that feature the artist’s teeth marks.
Marie Laurencin’s “Trois jeunes filles au chien, rose, bleu et vert.”
Courtesy of 16Arlington
The standout pieces in the curation are Giorno’s “Dial-a-Poem,” which made its debut at the Museum of Modern Art in 1970 with poem readings by the likes of William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Lorenzo Thomas and more; a haunting photograph taken by Woodman featuring a naked female model inside a glass box; Laurencin’s “Trois jeunes filles au chien, rose, bleu et vert,” a watercolor painting of three girls with a dog wearing dresses in light shades of red, yellow and blue, and a Polaroid of Diana Vreeland taken in 1983 wearing her signature red uniform and lipstick.
Thibault Geffrin, a senior director at Almine Rech, approached Capaldo for the art project after witnessing a number of artists wearing his label. He was introduced to the designer through his wife, Fatima, 16Arlington’s managing director.
Diana Vreeland by Andy Warhol.
“This is the first time we’re doing an off-site exhibition. We hope to see collectors, curators, artists and members of the public here,” Geffrin said.
The exhibition’s preview gathered a glitzy crowd with Honor Swinton Byrne, Phoebe Philo’s daughter Maya Wigram, Simone Ashley and Daniel Levy in attendance.