Wallpaper* gift guide: arts & culture editor’s picks

gift guide collage of items including plates, a radio, and more

(Image credit: Composition: Sophie Gladstone. Images courtesy of the respective brands)

published 24 November 2023

Gifting must strike that balance between a want and a need – we all love stuff that is gorgeous for its own sake, but increasingly I’ve sought out things that are useful too, or at least bring a spark to the everyday. If you can wear it, drink from it or listen to it, you can’t go far wrong – here’s a gift guide to what I’ll be admiring, using, and buying…

Wallpaper* gift guide: arts & culture editor’s picks

Sarah Lucas T-shirt from Tate Britain

Grey T-shirt with breast forms made from cigarettes

While there’s little I love more than meandering around a gallery, exiting through the gift shop comes a close second. When it comes after a visit to one of the most playfully subversive exhibitions of the year, so much the better. ‘Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas’ at the Tate Britain was one of my favourite shows this year, so indulging in a bit of merch to carry me through into the next will do nicely. Tits in Space, a tribute to Lucas’ 2020 work of the same name featuring tempting-looking balls of cigarettes, comes in a soft grey, just the thing for slouching round another exhibition in.

£30, from tate.org.uk

Alaïa ballet flats from Matches Fashion

How to smarten up a pair of a-bit-too-tatty Adidas trousers? A pair of expensive and impractical shoes. How I love Alaïa’s black ballet flats made from fishnet mesh, with a sweet patent leather buckle my three daughters would love. After recently seeing Serpentine CEO Bettina Korek teaming hers with a sharp black trouser suit, I’m almost convinced these would make a useful and practical purchase.

£650, from matchesfashion.com

Wilma Johnson washing-up gloves from House of Voltaire

colourful, art-covered washing up gloves

Anything that brings joy to the mundane is good with me, and artist Wilma Johnson’s effusive brand of righteous colour is somehow the perfect partner for a pair of washing-up gloves. House of Voltaire’s edit of limited-edition blankets, prints, silk scarves and homeware is worth regularly checking back on for quirky gifts for art lovers.

£85, from houseofvoltaire.org

Lexon x Keith Haring gift set from Musart

At the intersection of art, homeware and tech, the fun Keith Haring and Lexon set – comprising a speaker, an LED lamp, an alarm clock and a radio – is guaranteed to be a people pleaser. Lexon’s easy-to-use tech meets Haring’s bold and distinctive motifs (pictured here is the radio in the ‘Heart’ variation), bringing a welcome dose of pep to the early mornings.

Full set in ‘Happy’, $200, from musart.com

Radio only in ‘Heart’ as pictured, $70, from musart.com

Completedworks glass dinner set from Net-a-Porter

clear and green glass tableware from above

I’m a huge fan of Anna Jewsbury, the founder of London-based Completedworks, who brings a cool edge to jewellery design. It is an offbeat aesthetic that also stretches to the brand’s tableware – think undulating silhouettes, drunken candlesticks and delicious sorbet shades. One day, I will be the person whose dinner table is gorgeously coordinated, and when I am, it will be thanks to Completedworks.

17-piece glassware set, £2,985, exclusively from net-a-porter.com

Seven-piece set in green, £1,795

Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys travelling, visiting artists' studios and viewing exhibitions around the world, and has interviewed artists and designers including Maggi Hambling, William Kentridge, Jonathan Anderson, Chantal Joffe, Lubaina Himid, Tilda Swinton and Mickalene Thomas.