The art world’s most coveted bookshelf lands at 45 Park Lane

45 park lane phaidon contemporary artists series exhibition

(Image credit: Photography by Ian Macaulay)

For 30 years, Phaidon’s Contemporary Artists Series has contextualised the defining painters, sculptors, and performance, video, and installation artists of today in a range of compendious monographs. Launched by Iwona Blazwick, then Phaidon’s commissioning editor and later director of Whitechapel Gallery, the programme has now reached its 100th title, with recent profiles including Cameron Jamie, William Monk, and Anri Sala.

Phaidon’s ‘Contemporary Artists Series’ gets its moment in London

Dorchester Collection’s 45 Park Lane, designed by Thierry Despont and host of a dynamic and rotating art program, has partnered with Phaidon, in collaboration with Artspace and Ackerman Studios, to mark three decades of the series with an exhibition in Bar 45 (until November 23, 2025), which now houses all 100 monographs – one of only three complete collections worldwide – alongside limited-edition artworks commissioned for the project. Highlights include Tide (2023) by Kaws and Line Painter (2023) by Dana Schutz, both silkscreens on paper, as well as Listen for the Echo (2022) by William Kentridge, an archival inkjet print. All three are signed and numbered by the artist on the front. Recent works by Jean-Michel Othoniel and William Monk are also on display.

The editorial approach of Phaidon’s Contemporary Artists Series draws on the expertise of leading curators and critics, including Okwui Enwezor, Massimiliano Gioni, and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Each volume combines an extended survey text with an overview of a single body of work, a transcript of a conversation with the artist, a studio visit, and a detailed career chronology. The result is both a valuable research tool and a stylish bookshelf addition. Notable titles include volumes on Yayoi Kusama, Jenny Holzer, and Elmgreen & Dragset.

The exhibition is open to hotel guests and visitors. Bar 45 is located at 45 Park Lane, London W1K 1PN, UK.

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Sofia de la Cruz is the Travel Editor at Wallpaper*. A self-declared flâneuse, she feels most inspired when taking the role of a cultural observer – chronicling the essence of cities and remote corners through their nuances, rituals, and people. Her work lives at the intersection of art, design, and culture, often shaped by conversations with the photographers who capture these worlds through their lens.