Roche Bobois commissions street art for charity

French home furnishings maker Roche Bobois is demonstrating how street art and interior design can work together in a Brussels exhibition.

Roche Bobois’ “Inex Brussels” follows the success of 2015’s “Inexterieur Paris” and will be in the Uccle district of Brussels. Luxury brands often collaborate with street artists to show edge and inject their heritage with cultural modernity.

Working together
Roche Bobois’ Inex Brussels will take place June 3-18.

The exhibition will feature works by seven well-known street artists, including Okuda San Miguel, Alexey Luka, Bartek Swiatecki, Graphic Surgery, Mr. Jago, M-City and Richard Caldicott.

Each of the artists have been commissioned to create several pieces of art for Inex Brussels. All of the artwork looks to capture how street art and interior design can work together.

Furtif desks designed by street artists for Roche Bobois' Inex Brussels

The success of a brand’s artistic collaboration tends to be rooted on its direct involvement, often allowing its goods to be repurposed as art. In this case, Roche Bobois gave free reign to four of the participating artists.

Okuda San Miguel, Mr. Jago, Graphic Surgery and Richard Caldicott were selected to apply their creativity to the Furtif desk, designed by Daniel Rode of Roche Bobois. The resulting pieces are unique and express the personality and talent of each artist.

These four pieces will be auctioned online by Drouot auction house June 2-11. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Mimi Ullens Foundation, an organization that provides support and well-being for cancer patients.

Roche Bobois' Inex Brussels

Street art is becoming a popular marketing medium.

For instance, Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana is leading consumers through its doors with a heritage-inspired street art campaign.

To complement the #ItaliaIsLove campaign, the brand is inviting street artists to paint outside its boutique doors. Calling forth an Italian tradition and working with contemporary artists demonstrates Dolce & Gabbana’s respect for its heritage and provides a more immediate form of advertising (see story).