“When We Cease To Understand The World”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 180 x 160 centimeters. All images courtesy of Damian Griffiths and BEERS London, shared with permission Literary Citations Abound in Andrew Salgado’s Vibrantly Layered Portraits June 4, 2025 Art Grace Ebert A new body of work by Andrew Salgadounfurls from a central premise: we are the books we read. The artist, who works between London and New Brunswick, Canada, is literarily insatiable and considers every unread tome an opportunity of “infinite possibility.” At BEERS London, Salgado’s Self-Portrait as a Stack of Books presents a series of paintings that open like chapters and together, build a larger narrative. “My Year Of Rest And Relaxation” directly references Ottessa Moshfegh’s bleary novel of the same name and depicts a young protagonist inert and detached. There’s also “Véra,” which portrays a resolute Véra Nabokov writing what might be one of her since destroyed letters. “Véra”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 76 x 61 centimeters Salgado is continually interested in citation and the ways that memories and experiences layer atop and mold one another. Many of the authors he’s drawn to—Virgina Woolf, Jorge Luis Borges, and Margaret Atwood among them— “are influenced by art. By music and painting. They write about it all the time. The word is ekphrasis,” he adds. “Nabokov lists over 150 paintings in his collected works. So why shouldn’t the inverse also be true?” Intuitive marks of oil paint and pastel characterize Salgado’s works and seem to build up over time. Irregular stripes and circles add greater depth and dimension to patches of color delineating a dress or facial feature, leaving each scene with a certain indeterminacy. Allowing for interpretation and an array of personal references is essential to the artist’s thinking: “It’s ready for the taking. And whatever you take from it—from the books, or the paintings, or the ideas within—it’s all right. It’s all correct. There are no wrong answers,” he says. Self-Portrait as a Stack of Books is on view through June 28. Find more on Salgado’s website and Instagram. “My Year Of Rest And Relaxation”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 90 x 100 centimeters “St. Augustine’s Confessions”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 160 x 125 centimeters “Hotel Du Lac”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 152 x 117 centimeters “Meditations”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 150 x 120 centimeters “The Last Evening On Earth”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 125 x 100 centimeters “Beware of Pity”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 80 x 75 centimeters “The Aleph & Other Stories”, oil and oil pastel on linen, 216 x 164 centimeters Next article #literary #citations #abound #andrew #salgados

May 26: Memorial Dayin the United States; National Sorry Day in Australia; Independence Day in Georgia, Lag BaOmerDamage to the Interstate 40 bridge 1644 – Portuguese Restoration War: Portuguese and Spanish forces both claimed victory at the Battle of Montijo. 1894 – Germany's Emanuel Lasker defeated Wilhelm Steinitz to become the world chess champion, beginning a record 27-year reign. 1999 – Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League final to become the first English football club to win three major championships in the same season. 2002 – Barges being towed destroyed part of a bridgenear Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, causing vehicles to fall into the Robert S. Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River. Augustine of CanterburyIsaac FranklinJeremy CorbynElizabeth PeerMore anniversaries: May 25 May 26 May 27 Archive By email List of days of the year About #this #day

It’s only fitting that Austin-based hospitality group Bunkhouse Hotels should dub its new Houston locale, Hotel Saint Augustine, after Saint Augustine. The fourth-century theologian was canonized as the patron saint of printing because of his extensive writings on and early dissemination of the catholic faith. The new locale situates near the Menil Drawing Institute. Augustus Chapman Allen was one of the founders of the Texas metropolis in which there’s an abundance of Saint Augustine grass. Though references to surrounding history and ecology abound, the hotel forms as an inward-facing urban retreat, tastefully outfitted with near monastery-like qualities juxtaposed by pops of contemporary color and texture. Award-winning local architecture firm Lake Flato programmed Hotel Saint Augustine as a cluster of five two-story structures that reflect the proportioning of the neighborhood but that also delineate a series of cloistral courtyards. The open air porches that connect these decidedly modernist buildings imbue the destination with a residential feel. Lushly planted gardens emerge from these voids as they give way to meandering pathways. Fellow Texas firm Ten Eyck teamed up with the John Fairey Garden to cultivate a series of complementary plants for the site: eyelash sage, dwarf rock palm, and blue rabbit’s foot fern. New York and Wyoming-based interiors practice Post Company – in collaboration with Bunkhouse’s internal design team – outfitted the interiors with the same duality in mind. Drawing inspiration from the notable art museums – mostly named for the influential de Menil family – the scheme champions a clever yet not bombastic intermixing of old and new elements; a touch of surrealism. Tying together a carefully sourced selection of distinctive furnishings is a tightly curated program of minimalist artworks. With different lounge and retail display vignettes demarcated by soaring sheer curtains, the main lobby takes on the appearance of what one might imagine as a collector’s home. A burled walnut and Calacatta Viola marble reception desk plays off of bright red lacquered shelves with glowing back-lit panels. Deep blue walls and ceilings, as well as dark black glazed ceramic tile floors in the adjoining bar, helps hotel guests and hospitality visitors escape the bustling city right outside. Antique mirror panels help extend the verdant greenery of the internal gardens indoors. When it comes to dining and drinking options, Augustine Lounge and Listening Room are joined by the Michelin Guide-recommended Bar Bludorn. Premiere all-day restaurant, Perseid – named in honor of Houston’s long history as an epicenter of space exploration – is a quintessential neighborhood bistro. Throughout this offering, ombre dipped wall treatments and hand painted, texturally abstracted murals help to scale down the space. Art Deco inspired pendants hang above. The 71 suites comprise a diverse range of accommodations: from the compact 200-square-foot Petite Queen guest rooms to the Ateliers with private outdoor spaces. Monochromatic blues, deep reds, sages, and mustards delimit the bed while the same approach to furnishings found in the public areas carries through. The difference: much richer velvet drapes juxtapose dark ebonized wood oak flooring. Oversized sculptural luminaires skew the more intimate scale of these suites. “Honoring Houston’s artistic and cultural heritage, Saint Augustine alludes to the legacy of John and Dominique de Menil, who were tastemakers, art collectors, and human rights activists that shaped the city into the cultural nexus it is today,” says Tenaya Hills, Bunkhouse Hotels’ senior vice president of design and development. “In line with our ethos of creating community-driven experiences, Hotel Saint Augustine will also celebrate Houston’s history of unexpected pairings and cutting-edge culture through programming and partnerships, and plans to partner with neighboring non-profits to build lasting relationships with organizations working to further responsible growth in Houston,” says Hills. What: Hotel Saint Augustine Where: Houston, Texas How much: Rooms start at Design draws: An urban retreat made up of separate buildings with cloister-like courtyards and lush greenery. Eclectic yet cohesive interiors that at once honor the cultural clout of the surroundings and allow guests to retreat for a while. Book it: Hotel Saint Augustine Go virtually on vacation with more design destinations right here. Photography by Nicole Franzen and Julie Soefer. #hotel #saint #augustine #new #urban

Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE Decor editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Audiophiles can argue over the perfect conditions for music listening from now to approximately eternity. This week, Valentino’s creative director Alessandro Michele, is proposing his version of the musical ideal: an installation called L’Atelier Sonore in the Madison Avenue Valentino flagship. Created in concert with architect Francesco Lupia and Terraforma, the Italian cultural collective, it launches tonight with a private, 10-hour listening party tonight, featuring some of Michele’s favorites, including artist Kevin Beasley and DJ Veronica Vasicka. The next day, the mezzanine opens to the public and will run through August. With its “bespoke sound system, a handcrafted multifunctional listening console inspired by traditional cabinet-making, and modular seating with velvet cushions,” according to a statement by Valentino, L’Atelier Sonore taps into a growing trend of ultra-luxury, bespoke listening rooms. View full post on InstagramCall them the new media room—or the new wine cellar or the new art wing—the listening rooms trending right now aren’t “man caves” or rec rooms with turntables. As much as they’re designed to enhance the sonic experience of the listener, these rooms are also built to showcase a super high-end, technically advanced sound system. Everything about them is sleek, custom, and obsessed with sound. Here, ELLE Decor investigates where listening rooms got their start, what’s happening with them now, and how to even build a listening room of your own. View full post on InstagramWhat is a listening room?Listening rooms are spaces designed to listen to music from high-quality sound systems. The key is amplification of sound quality––and not in only volume. The design is supposed to enhance the natural acoustics of a space so that listeners experience the “true” sound of the music or audio. The listening room therefore has to reduce exterior noise pollution as well as isolate the sound inside the room so it doesn’t bleed into exterior spaces. Listening rooms are similar to an evolved version of listening booths in music stores. Once the realm of audiophiles, the conversational definition of a listening room has expanded to mean spaces made for people who really like music and want to optimize their or their guests’ listening experience. Chairs are comfortable, lighting is low, and the ambiance is relaxed: These are spaces intended to foster an awareness of the way music or audio art makes you feel. What’s the history of the listening room?According to Sasha Frere-Jones, who wrote about listening rooms for Harper’s in 2022, the birth of the traditional listening bar can be traced to Japan just after World War II, when a “weak postwar economy” contributed to music lovers repurposing equipment instead of buying it new: “In the late Fifties and early Sixties, Japanese movie houses gradually upgraded to locally made pro audio, and the older stuff made its way into surplus shops. The used gear became part of listening rooms and jazz cafés.”Though they’re not popping up on every corner of major cities, the number of these types of venues continues to grow. Lists of listening bars in Los Angeles, London, New York and Berlin circulate the internet each year. Hotels are building listening rooms. The St. Augustine, in Houston, Texas has one just off the lobby, so guests can relax after checking in.Nicole FranzenIn the listening room of the St. Augustine, a sofa is by Lee Industries is covered in a striped fabric by Kravet. In tandem with the rise of listening rooms is the increasing prevalence of bespoke sound systems, like the one installed at Maison Valentino or the one made by Bridge Street Sound for Tower Labs, the Tower Records listening room in Brooklyn. Bespoke sound systems like these are typically made to suit the size and shape of the room, which inherently impacts sound waves and how listeners receive sound. And here’s another key to the space designed for reverential listening: There’s no right way to do it. Everyone listens differently just as each space impacts audio differently. The ideal setup, therefore, is up to the room’s builder. With this in mind, here are a few basic tips for constructing a listening room of one’s own. How to build a listening room at homeFirst: Identify what kind of listener you areDo you want to attempt to make a room that’s as close to perfect as possible? Or do you want to wow friends with a sound system that replicates a great music venue? Maybe you just want to optimize the space you have for the speakers you bought. Determining your listening goals will help you decide how much to invest in a listening room. Frere-Jones came up with a mnemonic device to define the different types of listening environments he identified after writing about listening rooms for Harper’s: “corner, club, cathedral, and cocoon”: The street corner is the block party experience, people are talking and ambient sounds join with the music. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the cathedral, which is how he describes the luxe listening room designed by the audiophile. Cocoon and club are in between. If you immediately react to one of these experiences, you might decide that a really good sound system in a room with a really nice chair is the extent of your listening room investment. Or you might decide it’s time to read the trade papers and consider construction on the guest room. Which takes us to step two…Second: Consult a sound expertIf you find yourself drawn to the minutiae of gear specifications: study first, build later. If you’re not, be warned: You can easily get lost in forums that describe the optimal modal density for your listening room and more. But, if this gets you going, here are a few solid resources to help you take flight:Regardless, seeking advice from an expert is helpful. And ideally, you’ll visit a few existing listening rooms to get a sense for the difference each element makes. Third: Consult a contractor. Not everyone has a lot of real estate to work with, and knowing how best to segment and insulate a space to optimize sound quality requires bonafide credentials. Consulting a contractor or specialty architect at this point is key. Though everything will depend on what you’ve got to work with and how much time and money you’ve got to invest, many elements of the listening room are built to cut down on reverberation. A few key elements to consider are:Floors: Most resources suggest solid floors that aren’t elevated above the foundation. Some say carpeting is ideal, others say concrete. Windows: Skip them, or very make sure they’re well sealed and insulated. Ceilings: Consider sound panels. Doors: As far from the sound equipment as possible. Lighting: If you’re after the reverential mood of a true listening room, consider low-light. Seating: Make it comfortable, ample, and reclining. #valentinos #latelier #sonore #art #listening