Exhibitions

To celebrate their first year in London,Talisman is working with one of this country’s finest landscape designers to create a quintessentially European Garden. Sourcing unique statuary and furniture from Talisman’s coveted collection, Martin Lane Fox has been given free reign to create this inspirational garden design.

Ken Bolan of Talisman says ‘we have been working with Martin for years, supplying him with all kinds of antique containers, bespoke plinths, distinctive statuary and furniture for his prestigious garden projects. We are delighted to now be working with him on an innovative garden exhibition that is accessible to everyone.’

Talisman is renowned for its wide variety of statuary, however since their move to London one year ago the focus has shifted towards their diverse collection of Twentieth Century furniture designs. Bolan sees the timing of this exhibition, during the Chelsea Show and one year on from their re-launch, as the ideal opportunity to re-establish Talisman as a leading source for both garden statuary and furniture in London.

Incorporating in his design both the outdoor and interior space at this impressive Art Deco showroom, Lane Fox looks to position the wide range of pieces for sale at Talisman alongside a traditional European planting scheme. Ranging from an impressive 18th Century three tier Italian marble fountain and a set of 17th Century Four Seasons carved in Limestone, to series of English stone urns on pedestals and a selection of contemporary wrought iron benches, this exhibition will showcase both the decorative and functional nature of the many pieces on offer at Talisman.

To celebrate our first Christmas in London, Talisman has enlisted the talents of four of the country's top designers to create bespoke spaces intended to inspire, surprise and educate. Incorporating key pieces from Talisman's eclectic collection of original furniture and accessories, Russell Sage, Suzy Hoodless, Kit Kemp and Tara Bernerd with Rob Van Helden offer a contemporary twist on Christmas design.

Exploring the darker side of Christmas, Russell Sage has used an abundance of exquisite pieces from Talisman's collection, pairing chandeliers of animal skulls and antlers draped with Swarovski crystals with glossy black and metallic surfaces. Raising the pagan theme to celebratory heights, a stone hawk chimera stands to attention beside soaring mounted oyster poles, a 19th Century terracotta monkey figurine squats in the fireplace nestled between a pair of bronze elephant bones and bejewelled strands of garnet dripping from a glittering black birch chandelier add the finishing gothic touches to this macabre setting.

Suzy Hoodless has designed two innovative fairytale-inspired interiors for Talisman, presenting a modern and kaleidoscopic take on the festive palette. Her enchanting Princess and the Pea setting, complete with Jacobean bed towering with mattresses, is brimming with surreal and fantastical elements such as a 19th Century German carved wood and gilt Black Forest Monkey, a Siberian mammoth tusk from the Pleistocene period and armchairs upholstered in vivid tangerine marbled fabric from Hoodless' own recently launched collection. A delectable Mad Hatter's Tea Party table setting is decked with colourful cameo glass vases by Schneider and magnificent blooms in a prism of gemstone colours and flanked by a set of Spanish dining chairs in mustard leather.

Kit Kemp has transformed one of Talisman's back rooms into an intimate Argentinean drawing room in rich fuchsias, crimsons, olive greens and burnt oranges. Incorporating sumptuous sofas and wing chairs dressed with hand-embroidered Mongolian textiles and lofty Italian painted bookcases bursting with North African fabrics, Kemp has accessorised with Moroccan lamps, wall-mounted silken suzanis from Uzbekistan and other global treasures.

For her ice-cool Swedish café, Kemp has teamed elegant 18th Century Swedish Gustavian furniture with futuristic 1960s and 1970s pieces in Perspex and Lucite. Dazzling Italian Venini chandeliers are suspended above an elegant white painted dining suite adorned with crystal decanters, 1960s Lucite obelisks and a glacial 1970s Lucite block sculpture, and over-sized Perspex mirrors and cast iron storm lanterns punctuate the white and blue hand-block printed wallpaper designed by Kit herself.

With Christmas entertaining firmly in mind, Tara Bernerd has collaborated with floral designer Rob Van Helden to imagine a glamorous Bacchanalian seasonal banquet painted in a dramatic palette of traditional berry reds and forest greens in contrast to a selection of contemporary 1970s and 80s designer furniture. A 1970s chrome and glass dining table by Pace is laden with 1960s Murano glass, red crystal from Waterford and luxurious floral designs and fragrant cedar-wood, clove and orange-blossom natural wax candles by Rob.

Pierre Terrasson has been photographing legendary musicians for over twenty five years for album covers and publications such as Rolling Stone, Paris Match and Liberation. Dozens of rock stars and musicians from Lou Reed to Annie Lennox have appeared before Terrasson's lens. His favourite subjects being Serge Gainsbourg, with whom he formed a longstanding professional relationship, and Mick Jagger.

This is the first time that Terrasson's work has been seen in the UK and the exhibition consists of over twenty five of Terrasson's photographs, spanning from the 1980's through to today. Expect pre-Johnny Depp images of Vanessa Paradis hung above a 1960s Florence Knoll table, a menacingly stylish Serge Gainsbourg in a dining room full of 18th Century Swedish furniture, and Johnny Rotten gazing down from a traditional Portland stone fireplace.

18th September- 14th October. An exhibition displaying a unique collection of 20th Century carpets made by the Uighurs of Eastern Turkistan (now known as the Xingjian Province of China) using traditional Chinese auspicious symbols as inspiration.