About
Over the past twelve years, SHOWstudio has assembled an array of wonderous and awe inspiring online content from the world’s most sought-after filmmakers, writers and cultural figures. Through fashion film, illustration, photography and the written word, the website provides a dynamic archive which reflects the endlessly changing creative sphere that it operates within and documents.
Newly relocated to Belgravia's iconic Pantechnicon Building, SHOWstudio now intends to reflect our online wunderkammer in our latest gallery venture, the SHOWcabinet. Manifesting itself as part cabinet of curiosities, part commissioned installation space the cabinet will play host to one artist or designer who will create a world within the parameters of the case. From tailoring to taxidermy, millinery to photography, the initiative provides a unique platform for artists from all disciplines.
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We are honored to debut the SHOWcabinet in collaboration with The Honorable Daphne Guinness. Described in equal measure as an artist, writer and muse Guinness uses the cabinet to present her own contemporary, romantic vision of the world. She pulls together the people and things that inspire her and creates a monochrome world complete with relics, works of art, botanical specimens and innovative designs. The cabinet is her platform.
On the shelves Guinness launches her debut single 'Fatal Flaw'. Released as a limited edition 10-inch vinyl with unseen artwork by Nick Knight and penned by Guinness herself, this considered track affords unparalleled proximity to this elusive icon. Alongside the vinyl sits Guinness' armoured glove, anchoring her cabinet's central themes of beauty, brutality, revolution and romance. Created in collaboration with famed jeweler Shaun Leane, and titled 'Contra Mundum' or 'Against The World', this handcrafted, intricately made objet d’art took five years to complete and is perhaps one of the most technically advanced pieces of artisan jewelry in the world. A rare 17th century copy of Shakespeare’s tragedies is also unearthed next to a collection of Shelley's poetry and a limited edition book of Walton Ford's illustrations. Other items, like a Diptyque Fig candle (her favourite), and the perfume Guinness created in cooperation with perfumer Antoine Lie and in collaboration with the house of Comme des Garcons add another dimension to the installation. Daphne’s love of the zodiac is also expressed with an arrangement of Scorpions behind glass – precisely assembled by Guinness to represent her own star sign. Iconic designs created by Gareth Pugh and Norikata Tatehana also appropriately mingle in Guinness’ cabinet, representing the high fashion she has always championed.
Special thanks to Diptyque, Jonkers Rare Books and Proportion London
