Overview

Founded in 2004 by twin brothers Ian and Richard Abell, Based Upon is a creative studio that operates across multiple sectors and stands in a category of one.

Known as widely as for their private legacy commissions, public municipal artworks and prestigious brand collaborations, as for their luxury interiors, Based Upon’s work is characterised by its rich materiality, extraordinary craftsmanship, and the multi-layered narratives that are incorporated into spectacular yet somehow still minimalistic forms.

 

From architectural surfaces for hospitality, private yacht and residential projects, to deeply immersive experiences, meditation spaces, grand pianos and highly collectable furniture pieces, every project undertaken by the Based Upon studio expands on ideas of what luxury means in the 21st century. The Abells’ knack for understanding what is truly important to their clients, allows them to communicate myriad stories through products, spaces, sculptures and private commissions that are so precious they are frequently described as ‘priceless’.


Based Upon is headquartered in London, and serves a global clientele of private clients, collectors, interior designers, galleries and institutions from its studios in Greenwich. Their specialist artists, artisans and highly skilled makers hand-produce every design from scratch, using innovative materials and techniques. Visitors are welcomed by appointment.

 

Based Upon have created works for Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum, Ahmedabad, Rove Gallery, London, Masterpiece, London, India Art Fair, Montpelier Hall, Knightsbridge, London, World Trade Centre, Dubai, Nobu Berkley Street, Tiffany & Co, Rolls Royce, The Mayfair Hotel, and Fortnum & Mason, among others. Their works have responded to urban spaces and landscapes ranging from Central Park, New York, the Isle of Skye, Scotland, banks of the Yamuna River, the Nile, and the Thames, to Siberian terrain. In 2015, Based Upon unveiled their first public sculpture, for HSBC through the Cass Sculpture Foundation, A Grain of Rice, a 30 foot bronze sculpture in Hong Kong that represents a single grain of rice, hollowed out — the inside is mirror-polished bronze, while the outside tells the story of the corporation. A similar work is displayed at the Company’s London headquarters. Their works were also shown at the Taraporewala Mansion, Mumbai as a part of Volte Art Projects’ 10th anniversary celebration in 2019.

Works
If I Had Known Then What I Know Now, UAE, 2003
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