The Kempinski Art Project
Superior hotels such as the Kempinski Resort Hotel Estepona are meeting places. Discerning travellers congregate here to relax in an cultivated environment. In addition to the classic luxury of a five-star-hotel, however, the Andalusian Kempinski offers just that little bit more.
Art, architecture, ambience, design and exquisite gastronomic delights merge into a unique complete work of art. Staying at the hotel becomes a creative experience, an artistic event, a stimulating feast for the senses.The internationally recognised artist Stefan Szczesny was responsible for the complete artistic decoration of the hotel - a real piece of luck. For Szczesny hotels have more to offer than the mundane accommodation.
"They are places of dialogue and relaxation. People congregate here and make contact with one another in an elevated, sometimes euphoric atmosphere."
"The ambience of the hotel - and the art too, which is such a fundamental aspect of this in the Kempinski Estepona plays a significant role, because it can have the effect of making people feel happy." Szczesny identifies more with the Kempinski Art Project in Estepona than with most other artistic undertakings. For one thing he was of course flattered by the suggestion that the hotel should be transformed into a kind of luxurious gallery showing his works exclusively.
In addition Szczesny - himself a Mediterranean person through and through - enthused about the wonderful location of the hotel in the middle of the Andalusian cultural landscape, and right by the Mediterranean Sea.
Stefan Szczesny`s works are already very well known in Andalusia. He has made a name for himself in the region with his numerous exhibitions. The large general exhibition "La joie de vivre" in the Museo del Grabado Espanol contemporaro in Marbella (1998) was of particular significance. Moreover, Szczesny`s art had already been displayed at the Club Olivia Valére and in the Marbella Club Hotel. For many years Stefan Szczesny has been represented in Marbella at the Fabien Fryns Gallery.
At the suggestion of the interior designer Heino Stamm, Szczesny developed an art concept for the hotel. Stamm knows the artist from earlier projects and values his art just as he does his professional, reliable work. Szczesny himself has considerable experience in designing private and public buildings, amongst them noteworthy hotels in Germany and overseas. Even so, the complete artistic decoration of a luxury hotel of this magnitude and order brought a new dimension altogether - after all, no other living artist to date has carried out a comparable project.
As Szczesny said; "This was a tremendous challenge for me."
The artist was asked to create 137 ceramic pictures (really a series of drawings on tiles) in the same format (106 cm by 75 cm), several large works on canvas, numerous graphics, ceramic vases and art work in the form of glass etchings and paintings on terracotta containers. As time was limited, the works were produced over a comparatively short period during the summer of 1998 in Szczesny´s studio on the St. Tropez peninsular at the Côte d´Azur. Some works, however, including the swimming pool pictures, amphorae paintings and the dome paintings in the restaurant, were also created by the artist on site.
Only very few works are of an earlier date. Vases and ceramic pictures taking up the tradition of Andalusian tile painting were created in co-operation with the ceramist Peter Thumm, who has been successfully working together with Szczesny since 1987. Thumm says, "Because of the tremendous firing capacity the project demanded we had the tiles and glazes made up in a workshop in Southern France. Then Stefan applied his drawings to the tiles with a brush. We were operating the oven day and night - it pre-determined our working rhythm. It was truly wonderful."
Kempinski Resort Hotel, near Marbella in Andalusia, Spain
All artistic décor and furnishings: works by Stefan Szczesny
Concept and idea: Stefan Szczesny
Publication of book on the project: Sczesny Factory Publishing
Photos: U.P.Klein
Text: Andreas Lück
Hotel Kempinski
