Celine Brings Its Art Project to London

The Russian-born artist Nika Neelova has a love of abandoned architecture. Worn-down handrails; dusty, long-neglected floorboards; rusted pipes—for her, these lost and disused materials carry stories of collective experience, the memories of a thousand hands clutching the same spot. "Artifacts have a very different duration than humans. They can often outlast us," says Neelova over the phone from London, speaking specifically of the two sculptures she crafted for the city's new Celine store, which opened last week in Mayfair. Both are made from handrails rescued from demolition sites, reshaped into angular, curving forms. "They collect the influence of people. It's about leaving traces in the memory of these places—how you can read history through objects," adds Neelova, who often remakes found materials into sculptures, embracing their circularity. "It's in a way liberating objects from their meaning, the hierarchy of use. They were made for a specific human purpose. This is letting them develop outside of the constraint of being functional."

At the new shop, Neelova's work fits within an architectural universe designed personally by Hedi Slimane. Basaltina, a Roman lava stone, forms the floor; reclaimed oak and concrete underlie a Brutalist æsthetic. Furniture also by Slimane complements Neelova's creations, which form part of the ongoing Celine Art Project alongside an impressive collection of works by artists including James Balmforth, Jose Dávila, Elaine Cameron-Weir, and Oscar Tuazon. "It's not about creating new things in the world," says Neelova. "It's about unearthing existing objects and expanding their lifespan and duration and bringing them into our time."

Celine is now open at 40 New Bond Street, London.