Inside a Night of Art, Architecture, and Dialogue: Dazed Club and Audemars Piguet Celebrate Renée Levi at the Southbank Centre

Last week, as the vibrant energy of London’s art world reached a fever pitch with the annual Frieze fair celebrations in full swing, a unique collaboration took center stage along the River Thames. To mark the occasion of Swiss artist Renée Levi’s ambitious, large-scale public commission at the Hayward Gallery, Dazed Club joined forces with Audemars Piguet Contemporary for a meticulously curated and deeply engaging evening.

The gathering served as a bridge between high contemporary art and community-driven cultural exploration, bringing together a dynamic mix of art lovers, creators, and members of the Dazed Club community. Hosted at the Southbank Centre’s striking St Paul’s Roof Pavilion, the event offered attendees an exclusive environment for drinks and canapés, paired with a rare opportunity to delve deeply into the conceptual framework and creative processes driving Levi’s latest monumental work.

Central to the evening’s programming was an intimate, thought-provoking conversation hosted by Lewis Dalton Gilbert. He was joined on stage by Renée Levi and Audrey Teichmann, curator at Audemars Piguet Contemporary. Together, the panel unpacked the intricate details of their ongoing collaboration, the physical and logistical realities of bringing such a massive public commission to life, the broader trajectory of Levi’s artistic practice, and the evolving role and boundless possibilities of art in public spaces.

Taking Art Beyond the White Cube

Levi’s newly unveiled commission purposefully challenges the traditional boundaries of contemporary art by stepping completely outside the confines of the classic white cube gallery space. Instead of hanging safely on a neutral interior wall, her work engages in a direct, visceral dialogue with the Hayward Gallery’s famously distinctive brutalist architecture.

For this new project, titled September, Levi has conceived a striking two-part painting that effectively transforms the brutalist concrete building itself into an active component of the artwork. Installed meticulously across the gallery’s prominent west façade, the piece plays cleverly with the building’s characteristic long horizontal architectural lines, using those very structural elements as a foundational starting point for her visual composition.

The materials chosen for the installation are as striking as their placement. Constructed from industrial mesh and coated with vibrant, fluorescent acrylics, the work introduces an explosive riot of bold color directly onto the austere, weathered concrete surfaces of the Southbank Centre. Furthermore, the inclusion of silver spray-painted details ensures that the installation is never static. As the natural daylight shifts across the London sky and evening approaches, these metallic accents change in appearance, meaning the artwork presents a constantly evolving visual experience depending entirely on the viewer’s specific angle and the time of day.

The Setting Was a London Dreamscape

The venue itself played an instrumental role in elevating the evening into a memorable cultural moment. Perched high above the river, the view from the St Paul’s Roof Pavilion delivered an atmosphere that did not disappoint. Attendees were invited to bask in the glow of Renée Levi’s nearby public commission while taking in sweeping, panoramic views of the London skyline as dusk settled over the city.

Adding a distinctly cinematic energy to the proceedings, the red carpet festivities for a high-profile London Film Festival gala unfolded directly below the pavilion’s balcony. This juxtaposition of high-fashion cinema culture, architectural heritage, and contemporary visual art underscored the unique power of a public art commission situated within an iconic cultural hub like the Southbank Centre. It highlighted how site-specific art takes on entirely new layers of meaning and purpose as the city transitions from day to night, anchoring itself firmly within the metropolitan landscape.

Plenty of Thoughtful Discussion

Beyond the visual splendor of the evening, the panel discussion provided guests with a profound intellectual insight into Levi’s rigorous creative process. The conversation traced the arc of the commission from its initial conceptualization through to its physical realization, while also examining the complex relationship between painting, architecture, and shared public space.

Joined by Teichmann—who has followed and documented Levi’s artistic practice for years—the artist articulated the philosophy behind her work. She discussed what it genuinely means to create art that actively reaches out to audiences far beyond the usual insular gallery-going crowd. This dialogue reflected a shared, deep-seated commitment among the organizers, curators, and artist alike to making contemporary art more accessible, particularly within public spaces. The panel also touched upon important themes regarding the ownership of public artworks and the necessity of forging fresh, barrier-free pathways for everyday people to engage meaningfully with contemporary artists and their creations.

True to the ethos of Dazed Club, the evening did not end with the conclusion of the panel. Instead, it naturally extended into an evening of lively networking and community building. Over drinks and canapés, guests seized the opportunity to connect with fellow creatives from various disciplines, exchange ideas about the current cultural landscape, and spend quality time with the curators, thinkers, and patrons who are actively helping to shape the trajectory of contemporary art today.

Those interested in exploring the foundational ideas of the project can discover more about Renée Levi’s September through official channels, while photographic highlights from the celebration at the Southbank Centre provide a lingering glimpse into a night where London’s architectural heritage met the cutting edge of contemporary painting.