As I made my way to the studio on a crisp and sunny morning this week, a magnificent mural on King’s Road caught my attention and I had to get off the bus to take a closer look. Located next to Chelsea Fire Station, I discovered that this public art installation is titled ‘A Place Called Home’.
Sponsored by Sloane Stanley and supported by King’s Road Chelsea Road, this is the work of Italian born visual artist Adalberto Lonardi.
Alongside the help of local volunteers including children and other artists, Adalberto’s large-scale works express how we’ve learned to appreciate the ‘meaning of home’ during recent years. He explains: “These sanctuaries hosted strong personal and community moments. We lived with our loved ones and gathered with our expanded families and friends. Now we celebrate this new meaning of home and hope to hold onto its newly acquired values for the future”.
In the second room the artist wanted to create something that reflected the past year and how we spent it at home with family and friends. It is ‘a celebration of those spaces that protected and hosted most of us’.
Adalberto’s work also speaks about the importance of community and social integration. So when we look at the third canvas it depicts a celebration of dining as a communal experience and a means of bonding.
‘A Place Called Home’ tells the stories of a house in a series of peaceful interiors painted with acrylic on four panels, each around 3.50m long and 4.50m high. Set in different rooms, the paintings capture moments of togetherness and intimacy over the course of a day.
In the first room, we see a group of friends gathering and conversing in a living room at dawn. You can also spot a feline figure which is a reference to ‘Christian the lion’, a lion born in captivity and purchased by John Rendall who lived with the lion on King’s Road during the 1970’s. I love how Adalberto has also incorporated the building’s columns.
The fourth and final room represents ‘dancing in the night’, another celebration of being with a community. It reminds me of the many times we’ve danced the night away in The Crimson Bar or under the mirrored disco ball at Ham Yard Hotel.
Thank you to Adalberto, the volunteers and sponsors – your joyful work has left me bursting with inspiration!