Inside a night with Dazed Club and Audemars Piguet at the Southbank Centre

Last week, the art-world celebrations that accompany the annual Frieze fair were well and truly underway. To mark the occasion and Swiss artist Renée Levi’s new large-scale public commission at the Hayward Gallery, Dazed Club joined forces with Audemars Piguet Contemporary for a very special evening. 

Hosted at Southbank Centre’s St Paul’s Roof Pavilion, the event brought together art lovers and members of the Dazed Club community for drinks, canapés and a closer look at the ideas behind Levi’s latest work. The evening also featured a conversation hosted by Lewis Dalton Gilbert, with Levi and Audrey Teichmann, curator at Audemars Piguet Contemporary, exploring their collaboration, the making of the commission, the artist’s wider practice and the possibilities of public art.

Below, we get into what went down.

Levi’s commission takes painting beyond the confines of the traditional gallery wall, engaging directly with the Hayward Gallery’s distinctive brutalist architecture. For September, Levi has created a two-part painting that turns the building itself into a piece of the artwork. Installed across the west façade, the commission plays with the gallery’s long horizontal window, using its architectural lines as a starting point. 

Made from industrial mesh and painted with fluorescent acrylics, the work brings a riot of colour to the building’s concrete surfaces. Silver spray-painted details shift in appearance as the light changes, meaning the installation never quite looks the same from one angle to the next.

The view from the St Paul’s Roof Pavilion did not disappoint. Attendees got to bask in Renée Levi’s commission with sweeping views of London’s skyline at dusk, while the red carpet  for a London Film Festival gala played out just below the balcony. The evening underscored the power of a public art commission in an iconic venue such as the Southbank Centre, one that takes on a new meaning and purpose as evening falls.

The evening’s panel offered a deeper insight into Levi’s process, from the development of the commission to the relationship between painting, architecture and public space. Joined by Teichmann, who has followed Levi’s practice for years, the artist discussed the thinking behind the work and what it means to create art that reaches audiences beyond the usual gallery-going crowd. The conversation also reflected a shared commitment to making contemporary art more accessible, especially within a public arts space, with discussions on the ownership of works and opening up new ways for people to engage with artists and their work.

No Dazed Club event would be complete without extending the conversation even further. Over drinks and canapés, guests had the chance to connect with fellow creatives, exchange ideas and spend time with the people helping shape contemporary art today.

Check out Renèe Levi’s September and head to the gallery above to see pictures from the event.