Alec & Franz are artist duo Alec Boreham and Francesco Vitali. Floating Architectural Spaces is their collaborative exploration into the impact of architecture on human wellbeing. A shared appreciation for the histories and stories held within buildings lies at the core of their practice.
Intricate and detailed, yet light and abstract, Alec’s hand-drawn graphite works are not to be mistaken for architectural blueprints; they celebrate the individual beauty of iconic monuments that were constructed by manual means. Both artists believe that it is this human connection that allows us to recognise a city by its unique landmarks, constellations of domes and spires, minarets and cupolas, evoking a sense of belonging that transcends time and space.
Opulent drawings, deconstructed and reassembled, become self-contained monuments that, detached from their geographical surroundings, appear like spacecraft linking the past with the future. The role of architectural structures as portals linking the various stages of life is further illustrated through a series of colourful prints dedicated to the heritage of Queen Elizabeth II whose iconic silhouette, like that of St Paul’s Cathedral, will be recognised by contemporaries and future generations alike.
The project is rounded off with a set model to illustrate the synergies between classical disciplines and modern technology. Featuring a performance by celebrated Baroque tenor Kieran White. Staged at Cremona Opera House in June 2023, the installation both contains and is embraced by Floating Architectural Spaces.
The artists believe that cities and the monuments that define them exist because we as humans inhabit them, conceive them, dream of them, love, hope and believe in them. That as humans, for better or for worse, we develop expectations of living in our cities that can become our own versions of paradise or hell – as Italo Calvino writes in Invisible Cities:
The hell of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is the one that is already here, the hell that we live in every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways not to suffer from it. The first it’s easy for many: accepting hell and becoming part of it to the point of no longer seeing it. The second is risky and requires attention: trying and knowing how to recognise who and what, in the midst of hell, is not hell, making it last and giving it space
The exhibition coincides with the London Festival of Architecture. Hosted by Bermondsey Project Space Floating Architectural Spaces opens on Tuesday 4th June followed by an artists’ talk on Saturday 8th June. A proportion of proceeds from Floating Architectural Spaces will be donated to UCLH Charity, the official charity of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Alec & Franz, Floating Architectural Spaces, 4th – 15th June 2024, Bermondsey Project Space
Private View: Tuesday 4th June, 6-9PM
Artists’ Talk: Saturday 8th June, 3PM
About the Artists
Alec Boreham (b. 1969 in Folkestone, Kent) graduated from University College Hospital in central London and has been Charge Nurse in the Endoscopy Department at University College Hospital in London since 2022. The same year he won the Alexander Thomson Society Award for his graphite drawings of urban landscapes and architectural structures. He attended the London College of Printing from 2000-02 and read Architectural History at the University of Oxford, with a subsequent series of works inspired by iconic European and Middle Eastern monuments. In 2023, University College Hospital in London commissioned Alec to create an artwork that will be included in the hospital’s permanent art collection. @architectural_ink_drawings
Francesco Vitali (b. 1971 in Novara, Italy) studied at San Francisco State University’s Theatre Arts Department in 1994/95 and graduated with honours from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts (Set Design) in 1996. Experience gained in New York and San Francisco in 1997 led to a successful career, initially as light designer and photographer and since encompassing art direction, set and costume design, working on international productions with renowned directors. Highlights include a public competition organised by the European Union Teatro Massimo Foundation in Palermo in 2000, the Jan Kiepura Award for his work with the Warsaw Chamber Opera (2021- 2024) as well as international recognition for his 2008 art film Voluptas dolendi i gesti del Caravaggio | (The Gestures of Caravaggio) and his 2018 documentary Villa Visconti Borromeo Litta. Since 2023 Franz has been working with British Baroque tenor Kieran White. La musica e le ragioni dell’anima (Music and the Senses of the Soul), an opera-monologue he directed and designed, is scheduled for 2025. @francescofranz71
About UCLH Charity
UCLH Charity is the official charity of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) in central London. UCLH is a large, complex NHS Trust providing a wide range of services to patients from both local communities and across the UK and includes hospitals such as University College Hospital, the Royal National Ear Nose and Throat and Eastman Dental Hospitals and the world-renowned National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
UCLH Charity makes a difference to patients, staff and research at UCLH, over and above what can be funded by the NHS. One of our main areas of funding focuses on improving hospital spaces through improvements and uplifts to make a visit to hospital more welcoming for the thousands of patients treated at UCLH each year. Research shows that enhanced hospital spaces have a positive impact on patients, their families and carers, and staff.
UCLH Charity’s work has included support for the arts and heritage team who use art and culture to brighten UCLH’s spaces for patients and staff alike, investing in refurbishments for the children and young people’s emergency department at University College Hospital helping to alleviate the stress of a hospital visit for young patients. The Charity has also raised funds to keep UCLH’s green spaces in bloom, replenishing and maintaining the rooftop gardens which provide an oasis of calm in what can be a busy, clinical environment.
UCLH Charity is delighted that Alec and Franz have chosen to give a proportion of sales from this exhibition to the charity. The money raised will help the Charity to continue their work to bring colour, beauty and creativity to more hospital spaces. uclhcharity.org.uk
