Coldplay went viral recently after a certain indiscretion at one of their concerts was caught on camera – leaving the hapless suspects feeling blue, perhaps. But this year also marks the 25th anniversary of the band’s seminal hit Yellow, first released in the UK on 26 June 2000 (feel old yet?). In celebration, Wembley Park – the north London district that’s home to Wembley Stadium, which will host Coldplay’s ten upcoming shows as part of their ‘Music of the Spheres’ world tour, beginning 22 August – has teamed up with Pantone to unveil a new public art installation: Yellow 25.
The large-scale artwork transforms the neighbourhood’s Spanish Steps into a giant Pantone colour chip (the brand’s swatch system). The location is not accidental: the 58 ascending steps mirror the melodic progression of Yellow. Each of the steps has been matched to a specific shade of yellow using the Pantone Matching System (a colour reproduction system used across visual industries). It starts with pale, muted tones and builds to deeper, more luminous golds – a graduation which, again, reflects the song's melodic arc. Jane Boddy, creative director at the Pantone Colour Institute, explains that Pantone was ‘inspired to explore how… the emotional journey of the song could be visually represented’.
Yellow is associated with optimism, warmth and creativity – all emotions the installation is intended to spark in visitors. ‘Wembley Park is shaped by music and shared experiences, a place where energy is always in the air. So this felt like the right fit,’ says Claudio Giambrone, head of cultural programming at Wembley Park and curator of Yellow 25.
The Spanish Steps – a pedestrian link between Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena Wembley – have become a kind of cultural stage. In 2024, they were transformed with a mural by Frank Styles to celebrate Taylor Swift's ‘Eras’ tour. Now, Yellow 25 joins the free Wembley Park Art Trail as its latest (and brightest) addition.
Yellow 25 turns music into something tactile and immersive – it is a celebration of Coldplay's legacy, but also of the enduring power of art and community.
-
Cult classic ‘Teenagers in Their Bedrooms’ captures the angst of being a teenAre 1990s teens so different? Three decades after its original release, this photography book by Adrienne Salinger has been published again, by DAP
-
Step inside Pauline Karpidas’ London home, a cabinet of curiosities filled with art and design treasuresThe British collector is selling the entire contents of her art and design-filled home: take a peek before it goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s in September 2025
-
Boutique London rental development celebrates European courtyard livingLondon design and development studio Wendover unveils its newest residential project, 20 Newcourt Street, comprising nine apartments; we toured with co-founder Gabriel Chipperfield
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekThe Wallpaper* team immersed themselves in culture this week, attending theatre, music and art performances and exhibitions at some of London’s most esteemed establishments. Along the way, we may have discovered the city's best salad…
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekSummer holidays are here, with Wallpaper* editors jetting off to some exceptional destinations, including highly recommended Mérida in Mexico. Then it’s back to work, or, for one editor, back to school…
-
San Francisco’s controversial monument, the Vaillancourt Fountain, could be facing demolitionThe brutalist fountain is conspicuously absent from renders showing a redeveloped Embarcadero Plaza and people are unhappy about it, including the structure’s 95-year-old designer
-
Ai Weiwei’s new public installation is coming soon to Four Freedoms State Park‘Camouflage’ by Ai Weiwei will launch the inaugural Art X Freedom project in September 2025, a new programme to investigate social justice and freedom
-
The Chemical Brothers’ Tom Rowlands on creating an electronic score for historical drama, MussoliniTom Rowlands has composed ‘The Way Violence Should Be’ for Sky’s eight-part, Italian-language Mussolini: Son of the Century
-
Tate Modern to host Aphex Twin listening experienceA free listening event for Aphex Twin's reissued album 'Selected Ambient Works II (Expanded Edition)' on the 25th of October
-
Björk announces Cornucopia: The BookThe photographic documentation of Björk’s otherworldly tour
-
'Anything I put out into the world, I want to be a prayer': musician Laura Marling on eschewing traditional merch for tarot-inspired printsAs Laura Marling prepares to release her eighth album, 'Patterns in Repeat', Craig McLean learns about another artistic pursuit that occupies her time
