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Standard Lights

Wallpaper
2002 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Deborah Bowness is a designer and maker of innovative bespoke wallpapers which use photographic imagery of domestic furnishings and other objects to create individualised decorative schemes. This particular design features life-size images of standard lamps, screen-printed and with colour added to selected details. She was one of the finalists in the Peugeot Design in Awards in 2000, with her Hooks and Frocks wallpaper which was a photographic montage of dresses, chairs and bags. The wallpapers are printed to order, and can be customised for each client. Bowness also pioneered a method of hanging the wallpaper by simply fixing it at the top edge and allowing it to float against the wall.

Her work has featured in the Guardian's Space interiors magazine, Elle Decoration and other design publications, and is part of the current designer-led renaissance in wallpaper. Though designed as wallpaper, Bowness's wallpaper prints are sold as unique individual panels and can also be seen as prints in a wallpaper format. These papers stand between traditional commercial wallpaper production and the limited edition artists' wallpapers produced exclusively for installations. Bowness's papers represent an important trend in contemporary wallpaper production, towards one-off pieces and personalised designs, with wallpaper used as a conversation piece, a prominent feature of an interior rather than a background.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleStandard Lights (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Screenprint on wallpaper
Brief description
'Standard Lights' wallpaper by Deborah Bowness, London, 2002.
Physical description
Length of wallpaper with an image of one standard lamp, life-size, with hand-screenprinted colour.
Dimensions
  • Length: 290cm
  • Width: 56cm
Production typeLimited edition
Credit line
Given by the artist
Production
Attribution note: See E.824 and E.826-2002
Subject depicted
Summary
Deborah Bowness is a designer and maker of innovative bespoke wallpapers which use photographic imagery of domestic furnishings and other objects to create individualised decorative schemes. This particular design features life-size images of standard lamps, screen-printed and with colour added to selected details. She was one of the finalists in the Peugeot Design in Awards in 2000, with her Hooks and Frocks wallpaper which was a photographic montage of dresses, chairs and bags. The wallpapers are printed to order, and can be customised for each client. Bowness also pioneered a method of hanging the wallpaper by simply fixing it at the top edge and allowing it to float against the wall.

Her work has featured in the Guardian's Space interiors magazine, Elle Decoration and other design publications, and is part of the current designer-led renaissance in wallpaper. Though designed as wallpaper, Bowness's wallpaper prints are sold as unique individual panels and can also be seen as prints in a wallpaper format. These papers stand between traditional commercial wallpaper production and the limited edition artists' wallpapers produced exclusively for installations. Bowness's papers represent an important trend in contemporary wallpaper production, towards one-off pieces and personalised designs, with wallpaper used as a conversation piece, a prominent feature of an interior rather than a background.
Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
E.825-2002

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Record createdSeptember 25, 2002
Record URL
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