PAD London

13–18 October 2026

Berkeley Square, London

Somewhere in London, behind the door of a bachelor’s pied-à-terre, is a dressing room unlike any other: black from floor to ceiling, belonging to no single period, and composed entirely of things that have travelled from elsewhere. Curated by Martin Brûlé Studio, it brings modern and Old Master paintings from the gallery together with Art Deco and modernist furniture from Brûlé’s own collection, sculpture by Philippe Hiquily, and textiles made for the stand by Fortuny.

The centrepiece is Lucio Fontana’s Soffitto: Concetto Spaziale of 1957, a ceiling of twelve panels lit by theatrical light and offset by the deep black of the walls and floor, the surface incised, in tempera on polystyrene. Originally conceived for the Como architect Albiero, it was shown first at the Villa Olmo at Como, in Colori e forme nella casa di oggi. Very few of Fontana’s ceilings survive, and this is believed to be the only one he ever made in this material.

Beneath this crowning work, the room belongs to a man unbound by time and geography, travelling, having settled nowhere in particular. Magritte’s drawing of 1967 is called L’art de la conversation, a title he had first used seventeen years earlier. Michelangelo Pistoletto’s painting of 1960 is an early canvas, made before the mirrors, when he was still working out how to put the viewer in the room. These works are joined by a further modern selection.

Among them hangs a view of the Villa Poggioreale at Naples, painted in 1642 by Viviano Codazzi with figures by Micco Spadaro, three centuries older than the works around it, an heirloom perhaps, or a connection to the elegant classicism of a lost time. A further selection of Old Master works hang with it.

Around them are Art Deco and modernist pieces, and Hiquily’s forged iron, which is half furniture and half idol. The Fortuny cushions and ottomans were made for this room, in Venice, where the mill has printed by hand on the Giudecca for a century.

Who lives here is not said, and the room is not finished giving itself up. Everything here was chosen, and nothing here is on display. A dressing room is the one room in a house that is arranged entirely for its occupant, and it is also where he decides what the rest of the world will see. The Fontana has already outlasted the space it was designed for, and the room will outlast him too.