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Liberty – the capital’s grand dame of department stores – is getting all pioneering in its old age. This summer sees the launch of in-store art exhibition The Dark Side of Liberty. Inspired by a combination of London subcultures, and the trippy, psychedelic art and music of the ‘70s, the windows and the store’s handsome atrium will be taken over with the work of five emerging artists. Running for eight weeks from July 6, there will also be an accompanying programme of music activity.
Pink Floyd-esque vibes will abound as artists – Jared Madere, Alex Morrison, Joris Van de Moortel and Julie Verhoeven – and an architect, Satyajit Das, explore the dark side of the store (and we don’t think that means the stockroom) through a celebration of the real, the physical and the experiential. Here’s what’s happening so far.
Celebrating the relaunch of Liberty’s already-great-menswear-department in August, ace fashion-illustrator Julie Verhoeven has created a multimedia, animated psychedelic installation.
Belgian artist and musician Joris Van de Moortel will be taking over a series of windows, turning them into an immersive installation/actual-working-recording-studio. Alongside musicians Mauro Pawlowski and Carlo Adriani, he’ll be transforming the transcendental music of the ‘70s.
Making use of Liberty’s prints, Alex Morrison will transform one of the store’s windows into a trompe l’oeil sculptural installation.
The gorgeous wood-panelled atriums will look pretty different – the main one is being taken over by New Yorker Jared Madere, who will create a suspended comet. Meanwhile architect Satyajit Das is creating an interactive installation of a giant, metallic pig-sculpture!
The Dark Side of Liberty will be in store from Thu Jul 6. Liberty, Regent St, W1B 5AH.
Liberty is one of our absolute favourite shops in London. See the other 99 here.