When the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco went through a remodel with a focus on local culture, it found the aesthetics it was looking for with Mission's Luna Rienne Gallery.
In 2013, the Hyatt commissioned Luna Rienne to curate seven large-scale paintings. The paintings were to capture San Francisco's art entirely, and to live on the hotel walls indefinitely as a part of the Hyatt's permanent collection. A committee comprised of Hyatt officials and Luna Rienne coordinators selected artists David Choong Lee, Mario Martinez, Damon Soule, Erik Otto, Ursula Young, and Reuben Rude. Once the artist were selected, they knew they had to document the process, beginning to end.
"It's our job as a gallery to document these events," Luna Rienne curator Olivia Ongpin says. "We understood the awesome scope of the project from the beginning, and anticipated that the artists would make their best works."
The six artist have lived in San Francisco since the 1990s and were up to the challenge. They were given five months to create and complete their largest works to date and the whole process was to be documented. The result of which is in the 18-minUTE video below, Luna Rienne Gallery For Grand Hyatt SF.Luna Rienne Gallery for Grand Hyatt SF from Luna Rienne on Vimeo.
"[The artists] embody much of what the city and its art has been about in the last 20 years: vibrant color, murals and street art, and surreal visuals fueled by music and nightlife," Ongpin says. All of the artist utilize a variation of surreal imagery in their works with vibrant colors and contorted shapes and swirls, but all present their vision with a unique style. Their art is how they see the city. The Lobby, Mezzanine and 36th floor of the Grand Hyatt at Union Square were the dedicated homes for these murals. Because of their size, each mural had to be assembled on location within a short allotted time. "This is the type of art patronage that artists and galleries dream of: The opportunity to create freely, be paid commensurately, and allow the work be enjoyed by anyone and everyone," Ongpin says. If you wish to enjoy these works in person, all you need to do is visit the Grand Hyatt in Union Square.Comments are closed.
