Red hot: Oscar Tusquets Blanca's sexually-charged display at Room One
Spanish artist Oscar Tusquets Blanca presents 50 erotic paintings and two customised chairs at his UK gallery debut

Given the long and illustrious career of the multi-talented Spanish artist Oscar Tusquets Blanca, it's surprising to learn that his new solo show at Room One gallery in Clerkenwell, London is his first ever in the UK.
Born in 1941 in Barcelona, Tusquets began his career in the 60s as an architect and now counts several exhibition halls in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Toledo metro station in Naples among his built works. As a furniture designer he co-designed the 'Dalilips' sofa in 1975 with his good friend Salvador; he was a founding member of design company BD Barcelona; and several of his furniture designs are now held in the collections of MoMA in New York and the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. He has written several critically-acclaimed books and his paintings have been displayed in galleries across Europe.
For his UK gallery debut, Tusquets has gathered two of his limited edition 'Gaulino' chairs (originally designed in 1989 and produced by BD Barcelona) and 50 erotic oil paintings, called Hot Days, that depict female nudes in a sequence of provocative poses. Naturally, the artist also took charge of the exhibition design, creating a low walled enclosure painted scarlet red to match the firey hue used across his paintings.
Tying in with the exhibition's erotic theme, one of the elegantly poised, limited edition 'Gaulino' chairs has been customised by Tusquets with a pair of hand painted buttocks emblazoned across its contoured seat. Explaining the origin of the chair's unusual name, Tusquets comments, 'The chair took on a shape that was reminiscent of Antoni Gaudí and the 1950s Italian designer Carlo Mollino. For that reason... we decided to call it "Gaulino".'
In addition, Tusquets has published a limited edition Art Book in collaboration with Umberto Allemandi. Just 200 copies are available, with each one featuring a personalised watercolour by Tusquets on the title page.
Called 'Hot Days: 50 Paintings and a Chair', the exhibition showcases the acclaimed architect, designer, writer and painter's multi-disciplinary talents
The oil paintings depict female nudes in a sequence of provocative erotic poses
Tusquets also took charge of the exhibition design, creating a low walled enclosure painted scarlet red to match the background of his paintings
One of the elegantly poised 'Gaulino' chairs has been customised by Tusquets with a pair of hand painted buttocks emblazoned across its contoured seat
In addition, Tusquets has published a limited edition Art Book in collaboration with Umberto Allemandi
INFORMATION
'Hot Days: 50 Paintings and a Chair' is on view until 31 October
Photography courtesy Oscar Tusquets Blanca and Room One
ADDRESS
Room One
12–14 Berry Street
London, EC1V 0AU
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ali Morris is a UK-based editor, writer and creative consultant specialising in design, interiors and architecture. In her 16 years as a design writer, Ali has travelled the world, crafting articles about creative projects, products, places and people for titles such as Dezeen, Wallpaper* and Kinfolk.
-
Japanese designer Shinichiro Ogata's latest venture is a modern riff on the traditions of his home country
As he launches Saboe, a series of new tearooms and shops across Japan, we delve into Shinichiro Ogata's creative vision, mirrored throughout the spaces and objects, rituals and moments of his projects
-
These are Dover Street Market’s jewellery designers to watch, exhibiting at the London store all summer
In a special exhibition, Dover Street Market London is highlighting 36 emerging jewellery designers to know – shop our pick of their pieces
-
A street-like Pune clubhouse celebrates the ‘joy of shared, unhurried experiences’
A brick clubhouse in Pune by Studio VDGA reflects the fluidity and openness of the Indian way of life with a series of welcoming plazas, courtyards and lanes
-
Shop the gloriously mad inner workings of Gary Card’s brain in London’s Soho
Set designer and artist Gary Card has taken over London's Plaster Store – expect chaos and some really good accessories
-
Meet the New York-based artists destabilising the boundaries of society
A new show in London presents seven young New York-based artists who are pushing against the borders between refined aesthetics and primal materiality
-
Leila Bartell’s cloudscapes are breezily distorted, a response to an evermore digital world
‘Memory Fields’ is the London-based artist’s solo exhibition at Tristan Hoare Gallery (until 25 July 2025)
-
A bespoke 40m mixed-media dragon is the centrepiece of Glastonbury’s new chill-out area
New for 2025 is Dragon's Tail – a space to offer some calm within Glastonbury’s late-night area with artwork by Edgar Phillips at its heart
-
Emerging artist Kasia Wozniak’s traditional photography techniques make for ethereal images
Wozniak’s photographs, taken with a 19th-century Gandolfi camera, are currently on show at Incubator, London
-
Vincent Van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer are in rich and intimate dialogue at the Royal Academy of Arts
German artist Anselm Kiefer has paid tribute to Van Gogh throughout his career. When their work is viewed together, a rich relationship is revealed
-
Alice Adams, Louise Bourgeois, and Eva Hesse delve into art’s ‘uckiness’ at The Courtauld
New exhibition ‘Abstract Erotic’ (until 14 September 2025) sees artists experiment with the grotesque
-
Get lost in Megan Rooney’s abstract, emotional paintings
The artist finds worlds in yellow and blue at Thaddaeus Ropac London