Download the artwork brochure... - Beales Hotels

the
artwork
at beales hotel

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The artwork at Beales Hotel is a the result
of a remarkable collaboration between
Hertfordshire’s oldest family firm, Beales
Hotels, and the Department of Fine Art at
the University of Hertfordshire.
In 2003 I was planning the demolition of
the old Hatfield Lodge Hotel which had
been in the family firm since 1964. It was
frankly an outdated middling 3 star hotel
and in no way reflected the dramatic
change in the surroundings, what with the
building of the Galleria, the Hatfield
Business Park, the University of
Hertfordshire, the T-Mobile HQ etc.
I wanted a theme for the stunning new
hotel that would rise up from the ashes of
the old, and didn’t want to theme the
hotel with the past glories of Hatfield and
its links to the aircraft industry, but to
represent Hatfield in the dynamic present
and the future.
beales hotel, comet way, hatfield, herts al10 9ng
A chance meeting with Tricia Bryan and
Sue Scott, second year Fine Art students
of the University of Hertfordshire,
triggered a collaboration that has worked
successfully now for six years between
the hotel and the artists at the University.
We commissioned a competition among
the second and third year students to
come up with art suitable for the new
hotel. Of the 35 or so who entered we
picked the top 20 and commissioned
several works from each.
One may think of students as all being
spotty eighteen year olds, but in fact the
majority were in their thirties and forties,
with the youngest being 19 and the oldest
well into their seventies!
We wanted a sense of place and so much
of the art is about the local area.
A successful application to the
government sponsored charity Arts
and Business saw them funding half
of the cost of this wonderful collaboration
between the worlds of business and
academia, literally between town
and gown.
Since the opening of the hotel in 2004
there has been a constant trickle of new
works of art into the hotel and we now
number over 120 original works by
artists, many of whom have gone on to
make their name on a wider stage.
I hope you enjoy this little snapshot
of the wonderful works on display at
the hotel.
Andrew Beale - Managing Director
Beales Hotels - September 2009

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Opening
artist: peter lardi
location: ground floor reception area
Standing in their own space a viewer of
'opening' is drawn into a deep space emerging
from the wall. This viewer participation affects
people in different ways; some find it
pleasurable, others disturbing. How does it
affect you?
beales hotel, comet way, hatfield, herts al10 9ng
a while with serenity
artist: liz eujone | location: room 27
To me art has its own language and if I were to give this language a name, I would refer to it as the
phenomena of grace. So when I am painting I become part of that creative process. This is the
experience I try to share with the viewer, a sense of timelessness. I do this by using simple forms,
colours and shapes that complement and balance each other. And I hope the viewer (if only for a
fleeting moment) experiences a sense of integrity, beauty, space and purpose conveyed by the artwork.

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kimpton place
artist: Liz Eujone | location: kimpton room
After doing extensive research in kimpton village, I was interested in how the old suddenly becomes the new via one long road. To me art has its own language
and if I were to give this language a name, I would refer to it as the phenomena of grace. So when I am painting I become part of that creative process. This is
the experience I try to share with the viewer; a sense of timelessness. I do this by using simple forms, colours and shapes that complement and balance each
other. And I hope the viewer (if only for a fleeting moment) experiences a sense of integrity, beauty, space and purpose conveyed by the artwork.
fields three
artist: Barbara Dean | location: Room 28
I live and work in London but grew up in Hertfordshire. I did my BA in painting at Hertfordshire
University and an MA in Fine Art at Middlesex University. Today I work between the practices of
painting and performance art, both of which are inextricably linked through a desire and passion to
create community. I am fascinated not only by the appearance of architectural space but also its
function to provide shelter, and I aspire to provide this function in my painting to the eye, which is
the window to the soul.
beales hotel, comet way, hatfield, herts al10 9ng

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moonlight shadows
artist: tom tennant | location: room 51
My work involves the practice of contemporary painting. I am trying to expand the limitations in painting and I continually experiment and discover new
techniques. Colour and mark making are at the core of my painting practice.
beales hotel, comet way, hatfield, herts al10 9ng
(me)
artist: Bashar Al-abbas | location: Upstairs Balcony
My work has been heavily inspired by the celebrity culture and the way
celebrities are seen as icons of fashion and beauty. I enjoy reading
celebrity magazines and I feel that my inspiration has been built up from
these magazines and some of the most famous artists in the world: Andy
Warhol and the French duo Pierre et Gilles. I love the fake beauty and
glamour of celebrities and manipulate digital portraits into $1,000,000
idols, by enhancing the person’s features and adding an extra touch of
beauty and glitz with a few sequins here and there. Trying to give
everyone their ‘15 minutes of fame’ as Warhol said.

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matters of judgement
artist: karole lange | location: cecil room
I use bricks in my work because, whilst appearing the same, they in fact illustrate individuality. Each brick is unique and so it is with people.
When seen together as a wall or a society, it is difficult to determine all those differences without looking hard. We must look hard, however, to
make good judgements.
Sir Robert Cecil (1563-1612) 1st Earl of Salisbury was a very effective and ambitious politician who worked with Elizabeth I as Secretary of State
and subsequently with James IV. He lived at Hatfield House.
beales hotel, comet way, hatfield, herts al10 9ng
bumble bee
artist: joseph vallory | location: room 45
As an artist I am a painter, photographer and sculpturist by trade. I usually combine the three to
create interpretations of modern day society. Each technique can work individually and ask
questions involving colour texture and atmosphere. I use the various media to my advantage so I
can express my opinions through different avenues. It is a process that allows me to be creative
within a two-dimensional form and gain my own philosophies upon a vastly changing environment.

slow sexy
artist: sam jury | location: talkbar
‘Slow Sexy’ is the culmination of a body of work made over a period of
several years. This body of work was created in response to a continual
search for a generic ‘type’ – a homogenization of models presented in
the media. These pieces were constructed entirely of media imagery from
glossy life-style magazines, a multitude of photographs digitally
superimposed to create an almost hyper-real visage, that at once is both
alluring and disturbing. The first piece of this type was the aptly named
‘Something Perfect’ (2002). All the pieces created at this time had no
origin in one photograph, and notably in no photograph I myself took.
The final image was a pure amalgamation devoid of time and place, a
fabrication of the already super-enhanced. A series of large-scale heads,
often translated into painting or print, followed, and ‘Slow Sexy’ was one
of these pieces. Ostensibly these works presented the semblance of the
beautiful idealized human face, referencing stock images of young
women in adverts, but the undercurrent was that of vulnerability and
subject as victim of their desirability...
bealesartwork
Vice Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire
Tim Wilson and Managing Director
of Beales Hotels Andrew Beale
beales hotel, comet way, hatfield, herts al10 9ng 01707 288500 www.bealeshotels.co.uk