Louis Vuitton has today unveiled a new store in the centre of Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall.
Housed in the iconic National Australia Bank heritage building, this new venture unites the brand’s French heritage with Australian culture, through a collaboration with Indigenous artist Otis Hope Carey.
Louis Vuitton clients are welcomed onto the ground floor, which is home to the brand’s womenswear collection, while the basement, which was originally the vault of the bank, is designated to menswear.
Connecting the men’s and women’s worlds is a grand staircase, featuring a custom designed mural by Carey. The mural, which took over two weeks for Carey to paint, is an interpretation of his Gumbaynggirr totem, Gaagal (or, the ocean), which is a theme present in much of his work.
Carey’s sixth solo exhibition with China Heights Gallery, titled Our Totem, also explored this connection to the ocean, something close to Carey’s heart as an ex-pro-surfer. In a statement released by the gallery, Carey said, “The ocean has so many powerful healing elements to it and to be honest, I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t have the ocean. I want to share these connections and what the ocean has given me.”
The mezzanine of the new store, which overlooks the women’s ‘universe’, will serve as a gallery space, to exhibit a variety of artists from China Heights Gallery. With each new artist will come a new visual experience for visiting Louis Vuitton customers. The first artists to be showcased will be Otis Hope Carey and Shaun Daniel Allen.
The series of collaborative paintings by both artists is titled ‘Where the river meets the ocean,’ and is inspired by the vitality of the ocean and the healing properties of waterways on Country.
Carey and Allen worked together on each piece, with one artist painting the base layer of a piece, and the other completing the top layer, resulting in a fusion of complimentary colours and techniques. As well as beautifully meditative, each piece symbolises the pride, resilience and heritage of both artists’ Indigenous culture.
Discover the new Louis Vuitton store and the first artistic installation at 180 Queen street, Brisbane.
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