Artelier Curation: Art Programme for The St. Regis, Venice
- Jul 20
- 3 min read
The St. Regis Venice appointed Artelier as its long-term art strategic partner, leading an evolving and cutting-edge programme for the hotel's iconic, timeless landmark. Set on the Grand Canal in one of Europe’s most historic cultural cities, the hotel holds a unique position as a leading art destination with a global audience.
© Exhibition Photography by Tiziano Ercoli
Blue-Chip Commissions
As exhibitions and installations evolve, it is important to retain key anchor works that bring continuity and reinforce the hotel’s identity.
Our role includes reviewing existing artworks and advising whether they should remain based on their relevance to the brand, the space, and the guest experience.
Gran Salone, Ai Weiwei, White Chandelier (2022), a site-specific Murano glass installation © Courtesy of The St.Regis Venice & silk-glass sculpture from Jaume Plensa's Duna series between 2014-15
At the Heart of Culture
Timed with the 61st opening of the Venice Biennale, Artelier developed the cutting-edge exhibition 'Komorebi' that reimagines the hotel as a perceptual environment.
Inspired by the Japanese concept of komorebi, meaning sunlight filtering through trees, it translates the idea through Venice's defining element: water, exploring how light, reflection, and the city's shifting atmosphere shape its sensory experience.
Collaborating with World-Class Studios
Artelier forges cutting-edge artworks between local studios and global artists. Berengo Studio, known famously for mastering glass art, not only worked with Ai Weiwei and other leading artists such as Damien Hirst or Anish Kapoor, but also our proposed artist for the exhibition, Tony Cragg.
Crafted using traditional Murano glass techniques, these sculptures draw on centuries of artisanal knowledge that cannot be reproduced through industrial processes.
Tony Cragg, Seed (2020), glass, 46 × 28 × 25 cm. Loan courtesy of the Artist & Berengo Studio
Reinventing Classicism
A bronze classical figure is transformed by agave-like forms and a verdigris patina. Like an archaeological relic, the sculpture is exposed to humidity and rainwater, which gradually deepens its oxidation.
Water passes through the work and emerges from the figure’s eye sockets like tears, slowly changing its colour.
Hidden Surfaces
Exploring the relationship between time and material transformation, this artwork's surface reacts with its environment, which becomes crystallised in engraved, copper surfaces.
The slow process is expressed through subtle grooves and textures that capture and reflect light, creating a rippling, water-like effect.
Marco De Sanctis, Crepuscolo (2019), engraving on copper, 124 × 104 cm each. Loan courtesy of the Max Tomasinelli Collection
Shifting Perceptions
As visitors move through the hotel corridors, this dichroic sandblasted mirror piece appears to come alive in shifting light, its iridescent surface subtly changing in colour and tone.
Flowing from warm pinks and oranges into cooler greens and blues, it mirrors the way light plays across water from morning to night.
Zheng Chongbin, Coriolis Path (2024), dichroic sandblasted mirror, 157 x 137 cm each. Loan courtesy of the Artist & Berengo Studio
Collector's Pieces
In response to Venice’s shifting reflections and shadows, Joan Jonas’ birds gather in drifting, organic formations. They form a loose constellation that recalls komorebi, where light fractures and filters through shifting surfaces
Joan Jonas, Untitled (2015–2016), series of ink on paper, dimensions variable. Loan courtesy of the Artist & Raffaella Cortese, Milan & Albisola
Site-Specific Commissions
With works exhibited throughout the hotel, Marinella Senatore uses light as a shared language extending into the city.
Inspired by southern Italian illuminations and Baroque structures, the installation casts light into Venice’s nightscape, where reflections continue across the water after dark.
Marinella Senatore, We Rise by Lifting Others (2023), neon sculpture, 210 × 880 cm. Loan courtesy of the Artist & Mazzoleni.
Our Services
As leading hospitality art consultants, Artelier is brought onboard as a trusted hotel art partner for revered hotel projects, providing creative art direction & turn-key project management
Further Reading
Want to explore other areas of our work? Read one of our articles or dive straight back into a project: