Now before you say that art galleries are ‘not your thing’, keep an open mind. I get that walking in relative silence through vast empty rooms looking at static artworks on the wall isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But what about, instead, if the art moved around you? Stand, sit down, lie down, and look at the walls, ceiling and floor … and let the moving art wash over you. Welcome to Frameless! London’s immersive art experience. And I guarantee you’ll love it!
Frameless
Frameless is a new interactive 30,000 square feet gallery, based in Marble Arch in the West End of London (the end of Oxford Street, near Hyde Park Corner). Here you will experience famous art works in four different gallery rooms as a multi-dimensional art installation. There are 40 masterpieces displayed in the four galleries. The experience is accompanied by music and even some dancing to extenuate the experience. When you step into each gallery art seeps into every inch of space. It’s in front of you, behind you, above you and below you. You won’t simply be looking at a picture, you’ll be immersed inside the picture, with every brush stroke, every splash of colour, every moment of inspiration. It is truly a transcendental experience.
It’s a fabulous experience for all ages, especially children. It will certaintly start off their lifelong love and appreciation of art. Maybe it’ll encourage them (or you) to restock your art supplies and have a go yourself?
The Galleries
Beyond Reality
Beyond Reality is a surrealist gallery that combines Symbolism to Post-Impression. Again the idea here is that you are almost enveloped in a different world. The gallery uses mirrors and projection to bring the art to you.
Artworks include The Persistence of Memory (1931) and Elephants (1948) by Salvador Dalí; The Garden of Earthly Delights (c.1490 – 1510) by Hieronymus Bosch; The Tree of Life (1905) by Gustav Klimt; The Scream (1893) by Edvard Munch; The Librarian (1566), Winter (1563), Spring (1563) and The Waiter (1574), by Giuseppe Arcimboldo; Fireside Angel (1937) by Max Ernst; The Dawn of Venus (1922) by Thomas Lowinsky; and The Dream (1910) by Henri Rousseau.
This gallery is truly inspiring. To quote Salvador Dali “a true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others”. In Beyond Reality there is inspiration for everybody.
The World Around Us
The World Around Us is a gallery moving from Renaissance to the Romantics to the Post Impressionists. Here you will see how the wider world has always inspired artists and how their vision can inspire us. In this, the largest gallery, you will be thrown into crashing oceans; you’ll relax in pastoral beauty; you’ll explore bustling cities and stand on the edge of fiery volcanoes and look up to fierce thunder and lightning storms. From floor to wall to ceiling, every canvas extends across every inch of space. All on a scale you’ve never seen before.
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Artworks here include Avenue at Chantilly (1888) by Paul Cezanne; Piazza Di San Marco (Late 1720) by Canaletto; The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633) by Rembrandt; Tree Trunk surrounded by Flowers, Butterflies and Animals (1685) by Rachel Ruysch; London, Parliament, Reflections on the Thames (1905) by Claude Monet; Vesuvius Erupting, with a view over the Islands in The Bay of Naples (1776-80) by Joseph Wright of Derby.
The Art of Abstraction
The Art of Abstraction is the room we found most peaceful. Find a seat on the periphery of the gallery and just focus on the imagery on the angled maze of screens in front of you. It is just so peaceful and recuperative. This is because the abstract movement gave us a whole new way to see the images in front of us and how they represent themselves to the wider world. The art of the abstract movement is no mirror to the world but rather a different expression of it, using vivid colour, shape and form. In The Art of Abstraction, you can wander through the maze, where art not only appears to float in space but also moves across multi-layered, translucent surfaces. As you bask in its light and colour, prepare to be mesmerised.
Artworks displayed include Yellow, Red, Blue (1925), Several Circles (1926) and Composition VIII (1923) by Wassily Kandinsky; Composition with Red, Yellow, Blue and Black (1926) and Victory Boogie Woogie (1944) by Piet Mondrian; Head of a Peasant Girl (1913) by Kazimir Malevich; Castle and Sun (1929) by Paul Klee; Group IV, No.3 The Ten Largest, Youth (1907) by Hilma AF Klint.
Colour in Motion
Colour in Motion is another interactive gallery. Here, with a little help from advanced motion tracking, you can actually use your own gestures and movements to paint. You can kick the leaves and run through the gallery marvelling at the world moving around you. As you travel from Impressionism to Neo and Post Impressionism, you’ll be able to re-create the colourful vibrancy of these remarkable paintings. Your masterpiece awaits!
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Artworks here include Starry Night Over The Rhone (1880) and Self-Portrait (1887) by Vincent van Gogh; Mont Saint-Michel Setting Sun (1897) by Paul Signac; The Waterlily Pond: Green Harmony by Claude Monet (1899); Portrait of Metzinger by Robert Delaunay (1906); The Garden at Bougival (1884) by Berthe Morisot; and A Sunday Afternoon on The Island of La Grande Jatte (1884 – 86) by Georges Seurat.
A mid-visit break
Having visited two of the four galleries, we highly recommend a quick recharge at the onsite café. Amazing food and drink, lovely setting, lots of comfy seating …
Whole new experience
Frameless is a truly unique and culturally rich, immersive, multi-dimensional art experience. Journey through the four unique galleries and feel a different immersive technology experience in each one. You’ll see art in ways you have never seen or felt before. You thought that art can move you? Now you can move art! With over 479 million pixels provided by a million lumens of light, Frameless promotes the conventional art experience to a whole new level, complemented by a score of breath-taking classical and contemporary music scores played over 158 state-of-the-art surround sound speakers.
Go on, add it to your London itinerary – you won’t regret it.
Oh, ps., they have a good gift shop on the way out too!
Disclaimer
We were gifted tickets in order to experience Frameless, but this review was not influenced in any way. We truly enjoyed it. Finding experiences that get the seal of approval from two fussy teenagers is quite a thing these day! Maybe combine the visit with a Donut Walking Tour?
Thanks for providing such a resourceful info about the place. It’s insightful. Got to know some amazing facts.