Spring1883 Art Fair by Paris Lettau and Audrey Schmidt
Audrey SchmidtParis Lettau
Decorating can be daunting. Luckily, Spring1883’s luxury hotel art fair offers a one-stop shop. It’s now easier than ever to imagine contemporary art on your walls, in your room, and on your toilet.
This handy guide breaks down which galleries will elevate, neutralise, or energise a space with the contemporary touch you didn’t know you needed. After all, there’s no better time than spring to give your real estate portfolio a fresh look!
Neon Parc – The Penthouse
In a tastefully decorated penthouse, the dizzying sky-high views shouldn’t be the only spectacle. Enter Neon Parc, the ultimate urban luxury and the only spot for cool, art-savvy crowds. Comfort zones are passé if you want to show yourself off. (And let’s face it, you do.)
Racking up a line? Add a Bratz by Trevelyan Clay. Dropping a tab? Go for an airbrushed fractal web by Abella D’Adamo. Want to look smart? A Burchill and McCamley should do the trick. Rich? Dale Frank.
Sarah Scout – The Family Home
When it comes to decorating for a teen, it’s always a struggle to get things “right.” They’re at that age where they want to express their personal style and your suggestions are at best uncool and at worst, embarrassing.
The key is to find a happy medium that doesn’t sacrifice style for an angsty teenage edge. You want a tasteful flower arrangement and they want pure Norwegian black metal? You want a queered ceramic, but they’ve just discovered R. L. Stine? Sarah Scout has solutions to suit the whole family, like these playful little juxtapositions of image and text from Tony Garifalakis and Jake Preval.
Futures – The Bachelor Pad / The Boudoir
Bring the party home and kick-on in style with two wily-eyed koalas. Whether you’re after some modern abstraction for the bachelor pad or dream of a boudoir as plush as Marie Antoinette’s, Futures has the answer. Matthew Harris will elevate the man cave to man palace. And who would want to miss out on Chunxiao Qu’s saucy neon winks at love’s (and art’s) messier moments?
But the bachelor pad and boudoir shouldn’t feel too juvenile. Remember to accent with rustic elements and hues that elevate the space: think metallics such as brass, copper, and brushed gold. For the pad? Some of Darcy Wedd and Liam Vaughan’s cast aluminium body armour plates because, well, masculinity. And for our Antoinette diva’s boudoir, a drawer of hidden Wedd bespoke knives. Because what better way to spice up a “romantic evening” than with a potential plot twist, right?
1301SW – The Pool House
Nothing says “summer” like a few cold ones on ice. Hell, why not put your eggs on ice while you’re at it, because time waits for no one. With Alicia Frankovich, you could even store an entire hysterectomy in a bar fridge.
But there’s more to a pool house than just dozing under the sun and pondering your fertility. It’s your personal runway to parade those IG-ready Mikala Dwyer pool toys. Longing for a tan more radiant than a California sunset? Coen Young’s silver nitrate mirror paintings have got you covered, ensuring you’ll glow brighter than Orange County.
Think of 1301SW as your exclusive boutique for those chic, water-resistant surfaces that ooze naughties pre-crash sleek. (But a little tip: keep Tim Bučković’s masterpieces dry!)
Murray White Room – The Auction
Ray White may sell your home, but Murray White will skillfully stage it, emphasising its best features and crafting a familiar yet impersonal atmosphere for potential buyers and Airbnb renters.
Why not have your seventeenth-century European landscape or “chinoiserie” moment with Tony Clark? A side of vaguely-problematic-Australian-dad will definitely make your house feel like a home. But Murray White knows Australian art can be a little niche, so you always have the option to keep it classic with a still life from a true blue Parisian artist like Julien Audebert. Or you need something a little more “Keith Haring” for your Fitzroy spot? Murray White has that covered too, with a pop of colour from minimalist Mira Gojak or maximalist Christopher Jewitt—as seen on the Design Files.
NAP Contemporary – The Bathroom
A coastal theme for the bathroom? It might seem cliché, but the classic nautical stripes, blue, green, and yellow typically linked with seaside resorts are just the beginning. There’s so much more you can do than just adding an embroidered admiralty anchor to energise the space.
Now’s the perfect time to embrace a vibrant splash of kitschy colour. And if you’re going to do it, do it right. No one knows coastal kitsch like a longtime Gold Coast resident, so look no further than Scott Redford. Heaven or Las Vegas? Get yourself a city or a bathroom that can do both.
Caves – The Sex Room
Now that there’s a Netflix series, How to Build a Sex Room, there’s simply no need to separate your sex life from your passion for stylish décor.
Your pleasure zone doesn’t need to look like the set of Moulin Rouge to excite and inspire. At Caves you can create an intimate oasis with sensual textures and associative objects like Noriko Nakamura’s Emptiness II. Is it an arrangement of horse tail buttplugs or little sperms on a journey? A Great American Dildo or a bondage pole? Let your imagination run wild and the distinctions between objects dissolve!
Darren Knight Gallery – The Rumpus Room
Just because the “rumpus room” is traditionally an adult-free zone for the kids to run amok doesn’t mean mums and dads can’t have a play area.
Keyword? Multipurpose! Whether your play time is sewing, scrapbooking, pool, poker, or Connect Four, the rumpus room can do it all. The pool table won’t be the only centrepiece with the addition of a festive Paula Hyland Drag Queen portrait, and you can count on Alan Constable to help you reinvent the toy box.
Just remember, growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.
Spring1883 may offically be over, but these evergreen galleries welcome spring business all year around. And if you’re feeling less Rumpus Room and more “I need Rent Assistance” … well, the NGV Design store is always open.
Paris Lettau and Audrey Schmidt are contributing editors at Memo Review.