Hotel des Arts is a boutique hotel in San Francisco, California. When it opened in 2005, 16 of its 51 rooms were painted by local artists–today 38 rooms are. Materials used include wall-mounted vinyl records, plastic bags, graffiti, fabrics, three-dimensional art work, and even installations.
Rooms Room 404, painted by Tim Gaskin, was the source of some controversy. The walls are adorned with larger-than-life Louis Vuitton logos as well as an image of Madonna. Louis Vuitton sent a cease-and-desist letter to the hotel ordering them to remove the logos, but the hotel refused and instead held a special public exhibition to display the room. Now the hotel's website has a disclaimer on the page for the room, which states, "Please Note: Room 404 is painted with fine art murals by Tim Gaskin. Hotel des Arts is in no way associated with any of the companies or celebrities whose trademarks and likenesses appear in the murals." Room 311 Room 311 was painted by the French artist Antoine Merger, who worked under the name Punkadelik. The room was part of the Hotel des Arts' Painted Rooms series. Contemporary descriptions identify Punkadelik as the artist and describe the work as using fluorescent paint and ultraviolet lighting."Painted Room: Punkadelik", Hotel des Arts, archived 2010.
Featured artists Hotel des Arts roster of featured artists include:
References
External links Hotel des Arts Official site Painted room descriptions Video interviews and tour of the hotel Video interviews – Bastille Day Reception – July 2005