January blues: Vibrant, story-telling hotel art for optimistic times

With coming out of lockdown and the latest omicron fears easing up, it’s time to look forward to some fresh outlooks. Frances Bildner of Frances Bildner Expressive Arts produces and sells dynamic artwork to hotels, other businesses and residences and is no stranger on Hotel Designs‘ radar. Her paintings often tell stories, albeit abstract ones, and enhance interior design schemes by injecting vitality to the environment. Her paintings, described by New York’s Village Voice as being “vital enough to convert even the most jaded of people”, bring life and colour to empty walls.

Bildner’s paintings entitled ‘Let’s Slow Down the World’ and ‘Breaking Boundaries’ are examples of the thoughts that have inspired her. The various cities she has lived in, such as Buenos aires, New York and London have also influenced her in their vibrancy, pace and colour. From her own imagination coupled with her environments, we see emerging bursts of colour, gesture and movement that cover the canvases.

“Environments need fresh and original art, not watered down prints that blend into walls.” – Frances Bildner, artist.

Image caption: Prisms of Light. | Image credit: Frances Bildner Expressive Arts

Image caption: Bursting Out. | Image credit: Frances Bildner Expressive Arts

She has recently sold a group original paintings to a large, multinational construction firm in the United States and another group of work to Law Offices in the United States. As well as America, she has sold some work to private clients in London and is contacting hotels and offices continually.

“Hotels that value art make for beautiful surroundings.” – Frances Bildner, artist.

“Environments need fresh and original art, not watered down prints that blend into walls,” she tells Hotel Designs. “Hospitals, for example, should increase the hallways with bold art instead of grey morbid walls that cannot have a good effect on the patients. And it’s the same with hotels, guests want to feel uplifted, especially in public spaces. Ikea prints and cheap anonymous photographs do nothing to encourage a viable workspace or lobby. It can be truly soul destroying to look at the same anodyne images on the wall. Surely this is not good for anyone.”

Art hotels are the most original, fun and exciting places to visit. Their walls and stands are teeming with originality. Sculptures, paintings and ceramics are in full focus. A long way away from some of the large dismal lobbies and hotel bedrooms seen in the past. Hotels that value art make for beautiful surroundings. An atmosphere where guests feel looked after and pampered.

Colour is such an important part of our world, and hotels in particular can completely transform their image through the power of meaningful colour. Cities like Buenos Aires are awash with high-spirited tones. Doors, exterior of buildings are all colourful and bursting with flavour. “It makes for happy times,” adds Bildner. “The Artist Keith Haring, another great inspiration to me, played with colourful images of his graffiti art on New York’s subways and some people used his images for spicing up their kitchens.”

Tension from the pandemic has no-doubt rippled into, and is still felt in, 2022. Covid-19 is becoming part of our lives, and there has been a culture-shift becasue of that affecting how people live as well as experience new spaces. With this in mind, artists such as Bilder are working hard to make art an even more central part of everyones habits – and where better place to start than in the hotel lobby, where first impressions count for everything!

Frances Bildner Expressive Arts, which is the result of many years in the business of providing fine art for public and private spaces, is one of our Recommended Suppliers and regularly features in our Supplier News section of the website. If you are interested in becoming one of our recommended suppliers, please email Katy Phillips.

Main image caption: Breaking Boundaries. | Image credit: Frances Bildner Expressive Arts