Anyone who ever doubted that interior decoration was art should pay a visit to my husband's grandmother's house. Whenever an idea catches her fancy she acts on it. Whimsically painted kitchen cupboards, an irreverent wallpaper border, and an antique clock turned headboard are just a few of her recent creations. Swiss artist John Armleder has been contemplating ornamentation as a conceptual medium for a while. For his latest exhibition, he teamed up with world-renowned interior decorator Jacques Garcia to create a series of wonderfully outfitted rooms at the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris.

Myriad homes, hotels, and restaurants around the globe, but particularly in Paris bare Garcia's exquisite mark. The French decorator incorporates everything from Zen minimalism to Napolean III decadence into his interiors, and for this exhibition he spared no detail. Helmut Newton photographs hang in rooms with sumptuous velvet settees, a tiger skin rug, and dozens of art books visitors are encouraged to peruse. The exhibition, which runs through September 28, is just over a mile from The Westin Paris. Overlooking the Tuileries gardens, the hotel itself is a grand work of skilled interior design where modern classics mix with Louis XIV majesty.

[image source: e-flux.com]