Airports as Artports: Plaza Premium champions British artists at London Heathrow and Gatwick : Moodie Davitt Report

Airports have a key role to play in championing a city’s or country’s craft, culture, tastes and traditions. For visitors they offer the first and last impression of the locality, for that city’s citizens they provide a source of civic pride. An arts & culture programme connects passengers to a place in the same way an airport connects them to the world. Many airport companies embrace that role with pride and passion. Our new series, in association with Denizen Destination*, offers a regular showcase of airports as ‘artports’. 

UK. Plaza Premium Lounge is presenting two new concurrent Spotlight Art exhibitions at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

Contemporary UK artist Marcia Scott’s ‘Flow’ features at London Heathrow Terminal 2 and British painter and illustrator Joe Machine’s ‘Nature’ is on display at Gatwick North Terminal. Both exhibitions started this month and run until August.

This is the fourth instalment of new artists following the success of the ‘Art and Lounge’ concept series introduced in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur as well as London, in collaboration with curators Amie Conway and Alex Cousens. The art programme aims to create an immersive gallery ambiance within the airport.

Additional exhibitions featuring contemporary art are in the planning stages and will be announced soon across Plaza Premium Group’s departure locations throughout Europe.

According to Plaza Premium Lounge, the company is dedicated to enhancing the travel experience by showcasing the work of local British artists. “Integrating their artworks into the lounge environment not only adds a unique cultural dimension to the travel experience but also offers travellers a glimpse into the artistic landscape of the lounge as a destination before departure,” the company said.

Travellers can also expect an engaging experience with the artists, with both the London Heathrow Terminal 2 and Gatwick North Terminal Plaza Premium lounges set to host ‘Meet the Artist’ sessions in May. Marcia Scott will share how she brings her Flow collection to life at Heathrow, while travellers can witness Joe Machine create his nature-inspired pieces in real-time at Gatwick.

According to Plaza Premium Lounges, these sessions “offer a unique opportunity to see the artistic vision unfold and engage with the artists themselves”. The ‘Art and Lounge’ concept contributes to making travel better by enriching the overall journey and creating a relaxing environment that engages and inspires travellers.

Marcia Scott and ‘Flow’

The Heathrow Terminal 2 exhibition features striking abstract paintings, recent and new works experimenting with a variety of paint media including gloss enamels, hammarite and fluorescent spray.

Each canvas begins with a layered solid ground of static pure tone in bright blue, pink, yellow, black, white and gold. The palette is the seven colours of the rainbow, mixed to create a spectrum of multi-coloured hues and textures, merging, marbling and splaying.

Scott establishes new processes of mixing and moving paint, pouring directly on to the canvas, with gestural freedom; creating organic sensuous forms and flows, fused and highlighted with colour. Concerned with relationships and form, balance and fluidity, this process is said to create a visual language, which can be considered both abstract and surreal and likened to musical scores.

Joe Machine and ‘Nature’

Joe Machine celebrates a love of the UK in this exhibition at Gatwick Airport. His distinctive figurative style walks the viewer down paths into ancient woodlands, through fields with flowers in areas of outstanding natural beauty, and to favourite world heritage sites and national trails, such as Avebury Stones, Coldrum and Silent Valley.

The imagery depicts orchards, cherry blossoms, anemones, bluebells, prowling foxes, march hares, magpies, kingfishers and more. Each picture carefully studies the landscape, flora and fauna throughout the four seasons.

This exhibition features varying size original acrylic on canvas colour paintings alongside monochrome scraperboards, a form of direct engraving where black India ink is hand scratched to create a fine white China clay line.

In a statement, Plaza Premium Group underlined its passionate for nurturing the artistic heartbeat of the countries and cities that house its lounges. “By collaborating with local curators, Plaza Premium Group offer a global platform for these talents to showcase their work to a discerning audience of travellers,” the company said.

“This commitment fosters a vibrant cultural exchange and nourishes the local creative scene.” ✈

*DENIZEN Destination is a new travel retail-focused enterprise arising out of the long-established, highly successful destination merchandise brand DENIZEN Bracelet. The brand produces collectible destination fine jewellery souvenirs tailored to individual locations that convey a strong sense of place.