Sketch’s pink Gallery restaurant to undergo major redesign

Sketch’s pink Gallery restaurant is undergoing a major redesign with a new installation of artworks and interiors by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare and project architect India Mahdavi.

Shonibare has created 15 works that will reimagine Sketch’s David Shrigley-designed pink brasserie as a celebration of African culture and its legacy. Titled ‘Modern Magic’, the installation will feature five hand-painted masks carved from wood and 10 framed quilts that replicate African masks found in Pablo Picasso’s collection. Mahdavi has chosen a copper skin for the walls and yellow fabrics.

The Gallery will relaunch on 3 March with new copper-coloured banquets and Senegalese fabrics produced by textile designer Aissa Dione. Wall lights have been designed by Inès Bressand, who works with weavers in Ghana. The restaurant will also display a replica model of the pink Gallery.

Shonibare said: “After Matisse showed Picasso African art for the first time, it changed the history of modern art. Picasso was interested in appropriating from another culture, and I also appropriate from European ethnic art. Cultural appropriation can be a two-way street. This collaboration with Sketch has given me an opportunity to expand my creative process – creating a different environment to encounter and experience my art in a fun and relaxing setting.”

Mahdavi said: “The Gallery at Sketch has been linked to the colour pink for such a long time that it was very challenging for me to overcome this success. Yinka’s artwork was a real inspiration and enticed me to work differently in this new version of the Gallery. Now textures will transcend colours with metallic copper wallpaper, Aissa Dione’s textured fabric and Inès Bressand’s woven wall-lights. These are elements that have allowed me to extend Yinka’s artistic exploration of culture and identity and bring a warm feel of Africa to the space and furnishings”

Sketch will also debut new ceramic tableware designed by Shonibare and manufactured by British brand Caverswall for afternoon tea and dinner. Each piece will have a diamond-shaped pattern, nodding to the Yoruba trickster in Shonibare’s artworks on the walls.

Mourad Mazouz, proprietor of Sketch, said: “I was very afraid to change the pink room as David Shrigley is a part of Sketch. Then I was introduced to Yinka Shonibare, and I thought, my God, the master himself wants to work with Sketch. It was like I was dreaming. Yinka’s work is so powerful, intelligent and mythical, and I am so pleased to share it with Sketch's visitors from all over the world.”

Sketch was opened in 2002 by restaurateur Mazouz and chef Pierre Gagnaire and has hosted works by hundreds of artists, including Chris Levine, Ron Arad, Carsten Nicolai, Jonas Mekas, Mary Ellen Bute and Tracey Emin. Sketch’s series of artist-conceived designs for the Gallery began in 2012.

Sketch’s home, 9 Conduit Street, is a Grade II*-listed building that was designed by James Wyatt in 1779 and was previously the headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects, before becoming the London atelier of Christian Dior.

Sketch consists of the three-Michelin-starred Lecture Room and Library; the Parlour, an all-day café and bar; the Gallery brasserie; the Glade, serving a lunch menu and cocktails at night; and the East Bar.