2023
Time is Luxury
If the ultimate luxury is time in an ever-changing world, where we are continuously pushed into the fast lane, whilst conversely being told to slow down and be mindful, how do we embrace this luxury and the notion of time being the ultimate opulence?
Since 2007, British pop artist Boyarde Messenger has been creating art for people to wear or collect. Celebrated for her bold yet playful Pop style, hand-painted across an array of unusual canvases, from body art to luxury fashion items, she blurs the boundaries between lifestyle and art - transforming and elevating her collector's items into timeless object d'art.
So when she was asked to hand paint a capsule collection of unique artworks for Davidoff’s Dome Humidor, this was the chance to reveal Boyarde and Davidoff’s combined love of art and artistry as the direct path to this notion.
Art can find equilibrium, it gives us time to think, to generate a cathartic process that ties the past, present and future, to awaken memories and trigger new feelings.In a quest to find time’s steady pendulum, Boyarde pivoted between her playful artistic storytelling ability, whilst accentuating Davidoff’s masterful, historic elegance and craftsmanship.
Impossible to ignore the magnificent curves of the Dome and its striking grain, Boyarde ‘shaped’ 5 individual stories to journey across the curves, laden with her signature style that combines playful undertones with striking graphic precision, to compliment and contrast the Dome’s elegance and style.
Whilst this collaboration is a celebration of both Davidoff and Boyarde’s matching values and dedication to craftsmanship, the highlight was creating a collection of unique artworks that allow the viewer to ignite their imagination, indulge themselves, and collate their own memories onto these pre-loaded canvasses, to stand back and feel a wondrous moment in time.
CLASSICALLY NOIR
Fascinated by The Golden Age of Hollywood, its powerful and pervasive style of filmmaking that ensured seamless storytelling around its protagonists struggles between life and love, Boyarde created a vintage style ‘poster’ to reflect this familiar playful powerplay peppered with seduction and frivolous fracas, yet still echoing style and elegance that the canvas requires. This piece pays homage to a pivotal moment in time that continues to influence and allows the viewer to bask in its glorious seduction.
ELEMENTARY
This piece exudes elegance and refinement by the sheer clean lines and simplicity of the design, playing on nature’s elements in the most graphic form, to create a visual feast grounded with composure and charm. Due to its more abstract style, It stands the test of time, refusing to wed with any specific genre, thus allowing instant pleasure and gratification to the viewer.
INSTINCTIVELY
Inspired by her time in Belize and the never-ending twists and turns in the heart of the jungle, Boyarde has placed her signature painted leopard into the mix as she explores her surroundings and navigates her way with stealth and grace across the flawless arch of the Dome.
For Boyarde, this piece highlights a pivotal moment in her artistic journey, in fact it is the beginning of it, evoking memories of creating evocative artwork on unconventional canvases, from body art to luxury fashion items to murals, and now the exquisite Davidoff Dome. For the viewer, it is a luscious canopy of green leaves and geometrics, a place to escape the now whilst feeling the present.
GEOMETRICALLY SPEAKING
With the geometrics creating a confident, clean backdrop, it also offers a pleasant dichotomy against the floating objects that symbolise elegance, refinement and relaxation associated with the classic gentleman. With the moving components, this playful jigsaw puzzle of sophistication delivers a feast to the eye, a sort of quantum time travel of beautiful metaphors for the viewer to ponder over.
THE DIRECT GLAZE
Once again juxtaposing the traditional notion of masculine and feminine, the masculine lines of geometrics and bold shapes with the female subject, the questions she poses as she holds her direct gaze, opening a window in time, Boyarde has created a subtle yet mesmerising piece both visually and emotionally, dipping its toes in the subject of power and temptation.