Restaurants, cafes, bars and other establishments of the food industry have been appreciative of art for decades. Decorative art, murals and canvases help to bring atmosphere into the mix and improve the customers experience. In the last decade, there’s been a sharp increase in the commercial side of Mural art. In particular, graffiti and street art. It’s not just murals though, canvases and other art installations are also common. Next time you’re in Khubla Khans in Glasgow, check out the hand painted walls and see what a difference it makes to the atmosphere.
Restaurants as a gallery
Some restaurants take a more complete view. Recently a new restaurant opened in Hong Kong, which takes the concept of Art While You Eat to a whole new level. BIBO is pretty much a street art and graffiti art gallery. The French eatery is wholly inspired by and designed to showcase street art. It sits on Hollywood Road, combines French decor with a kind of used up-cycled look. Famous street artists such as Invader share wallspace with graffiti artists like New Yorks Kaws. There’s even Banksy and Damien Hirst. The walls are adorned with graffiti and street art from the most famous in the international scene.
Showcasing Art
Wahaca Mexican restaurant in London is another example of this trend. With locations all over the UK including London Bristol and Edinburgh it too showcases street art. They commissioned Mexican duo Lapiztola to come and paint their Liverpool restaurant back in 2014. Chotto Matte is another. In London’s Soho – this trendy restaurant features raw graffiti art. Traditional style graffiti pieces and lettering, set in a modern, urban, sophisticated surrounding. Amass restaurant in Denmark brings the street into the dining setting, with some of Copenhagen’s best graffiti writers adorning its walls.
The artwork at the top of this page was done by one of our very own – from Scottish Graffiti Murals. It seems that recently, to see some up to date street or graffiti art, all you need to do is to go to your nearest trendy restaurant. However it’s not all positive – that bastion of fine dining McDonalds got it quite wrong recently when they rolled out their new look restaurants in Brixton. The look, basically just tags on walls and lampshades got some of the locals backs up.
I guess you can please some of the people some of the time…
