The ‘painted lady’ arrives in Melbourne

Published by
Tess Ritchie
November 28, 2014

Melbourne born and world acclaimed contemporary artist James Reka’s sensational art bath, the hit of the Maison et Objet design show during Singapore Design Week earlier this year, is to be unveiled in Richmond at apaiser bathware this month.

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Reka, now based in Berlin and becoming a leading figure in the contemporary art scene of Europe, was flown to Singapore to create this unique one-off piece of art and lend his inimitable style to apaiser’s design and bathware presentation.

In keeping with apaiser’s belief that bathing is “an art form” rather than simply a function, the painting of the bath was commissioned as the feature of their award winning stand within the first staging of the prestigious MAISON&OBJET Asia 2014, an anchor event of the Singapore Design Week. As a core component in apaiser’s global expansion strategy, apaiser’s participation with MAISON&OBJET ASIA 2014 was timed to coincide with launching a signature apaiser Singapore showroom.

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The talking point of the show however was clearly the artwork on the eye catching apaiser Sentosa bath, which was undertaken by Melbourne’s own contemporary Australian artist based in Berlin, James Reka. His character work has come to represent the beginnings of a new style of street art: clean, unique and not necessarily on the street. Surrealist, abstracted creatures emerge from the depths of Reka’s mind, communicating through strong lines, dynamic movement and bold colours.

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In just the past 2 years, Reka has had successful solo shows in London, Denmark, Melbourne and San Francisco as well as exhibiting at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol as well as pieces appearing in New York, Munich, Denver and Cologne. This year he was invited to participate at Pow Wow in Hawaii, contemporary Art Festival and he has completed several private commissions. On the streets, his characters adorn the walls of cities around the world from Japan to Milan and Paris to Brooklyn. Reka’s works have recently been acquisitioned by the National Gallery of Australia for their permanent collection, cementing his place as one of Australia’s most respected contemporary street artists.

apaiser celebrates the arrival of this one of a kind statement in bathware at apaiser’s Richmond showroom.

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