Articles by: Mila Tenaglia

  • Events: Reports

    Piercing Eyes | Distilled Art Pieces

    For the first time ever, New Yorkers can live the experience of bathing in a distillate of applied art, a selection of unique pieces where ancient artisan techniques meets contemporary materials and innovative production processes.

    The international launch event of Piercing Eyes | Distilled Art Pieces will only last one week, from December 9 to December 16. This event will be hosted in a private room at the Stillfried Wien among the most sophisticated furniture galleries in the heart of Tribeca. 

    Every guest of Piercing Eyes | Distilled Art Pieces will enter a passionate, emotional, and  intellectual setting, where each single object goes beyond its mere practical function to become a piece of art.

    We welcome collectors who are passionate for Italian culture, art, and design,  quality-conscious buyers who are always eager for new materials, conceptual shapes, stories, and techniques, and even beauty lovers interested in having a poetic and sentimental 

    This curatorial project will bring to New York fifteen artists and over 50 original creations. Home accessories, fashion jewels, and sculptures, each enclosing experience and techniques  characterized by unique productive and conceptual combinations.

    “More than objects these are art pieces, emotional and intellectual partners that enshrine memories, encourage relations, promote beauty and acts as an enchanting spell who blends function and appeal”, say Shana Forlani and Ilaria Ruggiero, founders of the project.

    “Each creation selected is unique for productive methods and conceptual combination. Every piece of art encloses experiences, techniques and a one of a kind background, resulting from different ways of experimenting with aesthetics, while deeply rooted in the most ancient Italian artisan traditions”. 

    Piercing Eyes | Distilled Art Pieces has an innovative point of view that also shines through its 

    website www.piercing-eyes.it. Originally conceived as a meeting point between collectors and 

    creative minds, the curatorial platform encourages the creation of bespoken pieces, creating a 

    human-centered place of cultural production. In the present times of world-wide post-industrial crisis, the goal of Piercing Eyes | Distilled Art Pieces, is to confer proper economic value to unique and sustainable artistic production, as well as building a dedicated reference market for multifaceted creative minds that encompass art, design, and artisan expertise.

    The discovery of artisans and designers will also continue after the event with ElestaTravel:  on December 16 at 6.30 pm, during the finissage, four itineraries that reveal those places that 

    have inspired the works of artisans exhibited in New York, will be presented.

    Visitors will be invited to Italy to meet the designers, visit their studios, and to witness the scenes that inspired their creativity.
  • Events: Reports

    Ierimonti


    Ierimonti Gallery will hosts two innovative and unconventional exhibition: "Look very closely" and  FUSION | PRINTS & JEWELS.


    "Look very closely” will feature some of the most representative works of Marcel Duchamp and Gianfranco Baruchello. Since the Sixties Gianfranco Baruchello has worked with different materials and multidisciplinary approach, using a variety of media and techniques including drawings, writings and assemblage.


    Objets trouvés and writings, images and words alphabets, archived and catalogued in personal

    collections with a Duchampian attitude (“I have set up an archive a rhyming book of the culture I have been using it now for quite some times objects men books hypotheses  etiologies fables techniques scores electrical household appliances classified structures in perfect disorder”) are fundamental in Baruchello’s artistic project. With his artistic vocabulary derived from prefab images catalogues belonging to the everyday universe, Baruchello creates miniature worlds where he suggests delicate mental associations.


    Duchamp used to say that his ambition was “to put painting once again at the service of the

    mind”: as for Baruchello images become thinkable, in an art that is no longer subject to the aesthetic beauty, but that is the beauty of indifference.


    The mental component is always  accompanied by a thinner one, reminiscent of the subconscious in a multiplicity of meanings  that are hidden in a work like the Large Glass. If Duchamp here highlights the refusal of the  concept of retinal painting, with the readymade he takes the next step, elevating everyday objects to works of art.


    And through these subjects that are elevated to a work of art, Duchamp begins to make a series of short circuits of language, where the word begins to exist as a separate entity from its meaning. The multiple identities and meanings of the artworks presented forces us to “look very closely”, as Duchamp used to say about Baruchello’s work.


    The second exhibition, FUSION | PRINTS & JEWELS, will shiow a group exhibition that emphasizes the graphic works of some of the most important artists of the postwar period.


    Featured in the show there will be Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselman, Bruce Nauman, Christo, Edward Kienholz combined with artists who put their creativity in the field of jewelry, like Yoko. The exhibition explores Graphic Works as a culmination of the original work through a different and even more refined technique.


    The stunning array of jewelry are designed and manufactured by different artists in collaboration with the Marylart. These are precious sculptures in motion each of which is numbered and signed by the artist who created it. Through each of these creations there is less a distinction between works of art and jewelry, thus giving life to the small masterpieces, created by experimenting with new techniques and unconventional materials.
  • Dining in & out: Articles & Reviews

    Everything You Need to Know to Be a Great Italian Cook

    This is your thirteenth published book to date. How did you decide which recipes to include in it? 

    It is a collaborative process between our editor, my daughter Tanya, and me.  The recipes were chosen to match the theme of the book.  Some of my books have been about Italian-American cuisine, some about regional Italian food, while this last one is really my most comprehensive one to date, with lots of cooking tips and techniques, detailed descriptions of products, and advice on how to use and store them. I also show how to make substitutions in recipes when you don’t have a particular ingredient and how to substitute one protein  for another. Technique is very prominent in this cookbook, and I address in detail when one should consider whether to braise, roast, boil, grill, or sauté meat, fish, or vegetables.
     

    In this comprehensive book of over 400 recipes, I included many of the traditional dishes like Bolognese sauce, linguine with clam sauce, pasta e fagioli, and a basic marinara sauce.  I included some of my lifetime favorites and some brand new dishes.
     

    Lastly, I believe that every cookbook needs the right balance of recipes:  a good selection of simple and easy dishes; holiday favorites and some recipes that are more complex for special occasions or when the cook just wants to try something new and different.  A book should have a balance of appetizers, first courses, second courses, vegetables, and desserts and each category needs to be well represented.

    You say that you want to teach readers how to choose and use ingredients well. Would you say that the book is kind of an extension of yourself in your reader’s homes when they are not watching you on television? 

    Yes, I would like the reader to know that by using this book, it’s like having Lidia in the kitchen.  It’s a kind of tutorial by Lidia.  I want the reader to think about my suggestions when they are shopping for products, picking out produce, meat, and fish, and I want them to be conscious of the seasons.  Once home, I hope they think about the best techniques and know how best to handle and store their products.  The reader should be guided by my recipes but also free to modify them according to their own personal tastes.

    You work so closely with your daughter Tanya, both on your brand as well as in the writing of this book. Did she always show an interest in cooking?  

    Tanya is an excellent cook.  Her personality affords her the best of both worlds, as she is both very creative and incredibly organized, something that is optimal for someone in the kitchen.

    She is very passionate about this business and really takes on everything she does with an incredible amount of dedication.  I love working with her; she brings a lot of energy and innovation to our projects.
     

    Let’s talk about your maternal grandmother Rosa, the one person who inspired and taught you how to cook. Do you have a favorite dish of hers that you include in this book?

     My Nonna Rosa loved her garden, and I loved being with her in her garden and then going to the local market to sell our produce and eggs.  I really enjoyed harvesting the eggs from the chickens and ducks, so a simple frittata with wild asparagus brings me right back to my grandmother's table (This recipes is from the new book, page 111).

    What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who is stepping into the kitchen for the first time?

     Be prepared before you start cooking.  Make sure you have all the ingredients you need, the proper instruments, a good work surface, and good knives. Always clean up as you go!  Invest some time beforehand to understand the recipe and the techniques used in the recipe.  Once you have become familiar with the recipes and have mastered some cooking techniques, you can begin to move away from it a little bit and begin to make it your own.

    How important do you think food is when it comes to reinforcing an identity with our home country? 

    Food is an integral part of who I am, and it identifies me as an Italian, but food is an important part of any culture.  Chinese, Indian, and Mexican are all good examples of food-centric cultures that we can all identify when eating their food, and each  has particular about how to cook and enjoy their cuisines while sharing it all with family and friends. Food is used to celebrate, express grief and emotions, and it brings people closer together.

    If you were sitting at home, hungry and you could make anything that you wanted, what would it be, and why?  

    Simple...spaghetti with white clam sauce.  If there are no clams in the house, I’ll just make a spaghetti with garlic, oil, and peperoncino
  • Art & Culture

    Calaca Solo Show by Italian Artist Ienacruz

    The exhibition was organized in collaboration with ST.ART​(www.st­artnow.com), a New York based creative agency that represents contemporary urban artists and set on the quest of supporting a fast growing street art culture through various creative projects.

    A CALACA​(Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈlaka], a colloquial Mexican Spanish name for skeleton) is a figure of a skull or skeleton (usually human)commonly used for decoration during the Mexican Day of the Dead festival, although they are made all year round. As with other aspects of the

    Day of the Dead festival, calacas are generally depicted as joyous rather than mournful figures. This draws on the Mexican belief that no dead soul likes to be thought of sadly, and that death should be a joyous occasion. 

    Federico Massa​(also known in the global street art world as both CRUZ and Iena Cruz) is a university­trained fine artist from Milan who now resides and works in Brooklyn, New York.

    In his teen years in 1990s Milan Massa forged a solid reputation as a rebel in the burgeoning street art movement. Later he pursued further as an artists and entered to the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan where he developed a signature layered style of spray paint stencilling and fine calibrated brush work on a range of surfaces. 

    Federico arrived to NYC in 2010, where he lived in the beginning in the group studio loft with other artists and filmmakers from Mexico. That’s where he got introduced to Mexican culture and calavera style which now influences Federico’s work. Over time he has developed a respected place among the noted street artists of New York. 

    His signature style is constantly being honed and furthered in large scale outdoor wall murals, studio canvases, and sculpture, and a unique visual style that includes imagery gathered on trips to Mexico and abroad. Federico nowresides and works in Brooklyn, NYC.

    FOR PRESS INQUIRIES

    please contact 317 GALLERY ​at

    info@317gallery.com
  • Art & Culture

    Giorgio Morandi at CIMA: The Poetics of an Italian Modernist

    Over fifty works, several of which have not been seen in the US in decades, will be on display at CIMA’s retrospective dedicated to modernist Giorgio Morandi, including paintings, etchings and drawings, giving viewers the opportunity to admire the light and rigor of Morandi’s art. Among the most important works is his rare oil-on-canvas self- portrait, Autoritratto, 1930, which was last displayed in the U.S. 40 years ago.

    The painting denotes the artist’s increasing interest in abstraction and materiality over  representation. Major public and private international collections in Italy were fundamental to launching the show, including Collezione Mattioli, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Fondo Ambiente Italiano and MAMbo (Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna).

    The 1930s and the 1960s

    “You won’t find a biographical-anthological show at CIMA,” explains CIMA’s founder and president Laura Mattioli. “There will be a focus on the period of the 1930s, which, though unknown abroad, anticipates the most important evolutions in the painter’s art. And, for contrast, next to that period we’ll be placing his very last works from the 1960s.”

    The curatorial choice attempts to highlight the most countercultural, contemporary aspects of Giorgio Morandi’s activity and the formative role the latter had on minimalist and conceptual art of the postwar period. “In the 1930s, Morandi mainly used a dark palette, enlivened by a few, violent chromatic contrasts and a thick mixture of colors in which traces of the paintbrush are clearly visible,” says Mattioli. “In the last three years of his life, on the other hand, the artist uses very soft and luminous colors, which he applied with transparent, almost liquid but still visible strokes. They would appear to be two contradictory pictorial styles, but in reality both form part of a single, cohesive discourse on painting.”
     

    Morandi in the U.S.

    Like the other artists shown at CIMA, Giorgio Morandi had ties to New York and its inhabitants. During the 1920s he had the good fortune to regularly exhibit his etchings in Pittsburgh, which brought him notoriety in the US during the postwar period. Despite keeping his distance from the world of salons and his love of solitude, Morandi directly influenced many artists, particularly minimalists and conceptualists. His watercolors, geometric boxes and flowers expressed an anguished and lyrical look at reality that captivated intellectuals and artists, like Agnes Martin, who, Mattioli explains, “saw one of the Bolognese master’s watercolors acquired by a friend of hers at the 1959 Venice Biennial.”
     

    “I believe that giving a more international reading of an artist erroneously considered ‘provincial’ because he didn’t travel much - and almost exclusively within Italy - is important for the art history of the world,” says Mattioli.
     

    “I think that Morandi is still only partially understood in the US and generally, both in Italy and abroad. For a long time his work was exclusively interpreted as the continuation of the highest tradition of Italian painting, which was Roberto Longhi’s reading of him. It’s no coincidence that in the last decade many exhibitions on Morandi – including the one in New York at the Metropolitan Museum – were curated by Dr. Maria Cristina Bandera, director of the Longhi Foundation and niece of Longhi’s student, Mina Gregori.”
     

    To broaden our interpretation of the Bolognese maestro, CIMA has invited artists to speak to the public about the works on display, and thus bring to light the modernity and rigor of one of the greatest exponents of 20th-century Italian painting.
  • Events: Reports

    Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting

    The Guggenheim’s comprehensive retrospective is the first U.S. exhibit dedicated to Italian artist Alberto Burri (1915-1995) in over 35 years. The Umbrian maestro arguably made the largest Italian contribution to the international art scene of the postwar period.

    +100 works on display

    After two years of intense work and under the guidance of Emily Braun and Megan Fontanella, the Guggenheim has put together a remarkable exhibition that presents American audiences with a nuanced, sometimes contradictory portrait of Burri. Many of the one hundred- plus works on display, his monochrome paintings made from the 1950s to the 1990s, have never left Italy before.

    Coming a generation after Lucio Fontana, Burri was a doctor in the Italian army during its campaign in Africa, where he was imprisoned and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Texas, an experience that made a profound impact on his artistic output and worldview. Burri would go on to create experimental works with unconventional materials like iron, wood, plastic and tar.

    Understanding Alberto Burri’s art isn’t easy. His unusual and innovative way of painting with an array of materials went beyond the confines of pictorial and classical art, confines which, given his Umbrian roots, nevertheless deeply influenced his work.
     

    Milestones

    The Guggenheim retrospective seeks to highlight his poetic investigation of the object-image, which would inspire the Neo- Dada movement, Processual Art and Arte Povera. Burri’s “extra-pictorial” materials were taken from real life to created works like “Gobbi” (hunchbacks), “Catrami” (tars) and the famous series of “Sacchi” (sacks), which incorporated lacerated jute bags. Like all great innovations, Burri’s method of cutting and sewing materials to create artistic masterpieces caused shockwaves and scandals. Still today these works remain milestones in the artistic landscape of the second half of the 20th century.
     

    Several of the paintings adorning the Guggenheim’s luminous, dizzying spiral ramp, including “Grande Bianco” (1952) and “Grande Bianco” (1956) come from the private collections of the Fondazione Albizzini Collezione Burri, founded by Burri in 1978.
     

    The retrospective follows a timeline that emphasizes the artist’s connection to American minimalism, which had an impact on his later works. There will also be a series of public events to celebrate the exhibition, with theater performances, screenings of neorealist cinema and dance performances. The latter will include a 1973 ballet choreographed by Burri’s wife, the American ballerina Minsa Craig.
     

    Sponsored by Lavazza

    The museum’s success would not have been possible without the support of Lavazza, a brand leader in the coffee industry, which recently celebrated its 120th anniversary. Lavazza has been actively involved in other initiatives tied to the Guggenheim. Ennio Ranaboldo, the CEO of Lavazza USA, explained that “the partnership with the Guggenheim is part of the broader conversation that we entertain with New York City, our hometown, its denizens and visitors from all over the planet.

    It’s not just a matter of supporting a major cultural institution, but, as a company and as a brand, contributing to a certain idea about a good, stimulating life in the city. That idea includes outstanding art – such as is certainly going to be the case with the Alberto Burri show – and great coffee!”.
  • Style: Articles

    Stadio della Roma: A Glorious Mix of Past, Present, and Future

     If you’re interested in Italian soccer and love the eternal city, you now have yet another reason to pack your bags for Rome. A brand new architectural project, expertly fusing tradition and a futuristic vision, is ready for construction. The one and only Stadio della Roma will be built in Rome’s Tor di Valle district.

    In architect Dan Meis’ words, “I was surprised to learn that there was such a large available 
    site at Tor di Valle. While not in the center of Rome, it is almost halfway between the airport and the city on the main highway.”

    Sports,Entertainment, and Architecture Dan Meis is a renowned American architect with over 30 years of experience under his belt. He is known as one of the best architects in the world, specializing in sDpaonrtMs e&is entertainment. His works have been on display in Europe, the Middle East and, naturally, the United States. He owns studios in Los Angeles and New York that serve many locations around the world.
     

    Raised in a small city in Colorado, Meis quickly became enthralled with the world of sports. He was also equally attracted to the physical look of stadiums, the symbolism attached to them and the way spectators get swept up in a game. “I was taken by how passionate people are about stadiums and the teams who occupy them. I love working around the world and having the opportunity to engage in the culture and passion of local fans.”
     

    From the Colosseum to the Stadium When looking at designs for the stadium it is hard not to note its resemblance to the Colosseum, the most important Roman amphitheater and the symbol of Rome itself. As Meis puts it, “It would be impossible to design a stadium in Rome without thinking about the powerfully iconic presence of the Colosseum. We knew that a new stadium would draw comparison so we wanted to make a respectful reference to it but in a very contemporary way.

    Our solution was to ‘wrap’ a modern steel and glass stadium with a floating stone scrim of Travertine that would be loosely based on the rhythms and fenestration of the Colosseum. The travertine would be quarried from the very same mountains that provided the stone for the Colosseum. In the end we hope we have created something very contemporary but that fits comfortably with the iconic monuments of Rome.”


    Transformative Architecture

    “I have been traveling to Tuscany on vacations with my family every year for the last twenty,” says Meis. “So I know Italy and Rome very well.” But the cultural research he conducted while working out designs for Stadio della Roma is not simply the byproduct of his passion for all things Italian;

    he is also interested in Italian fans, whom he admits cannot be easily placed into a convenient socio-political box. “Football fans are far more passionate and knowledgeable about their sport than any other,” he says. “Americans do not completely understand this yet, but it is changing. I am quite sure this type of soccer will be as popular in the U.S. as the NFL someday.”

    Tor di Valle may feel peripheral now, but thanks to the Stadio, it should soon become both a sporting hub and an artistic and cultural center operational seven days a week. “The idea is to transform this area into an entirely new sports, entertainment, shopping, and business district,” says Meis. “A new attraction in a city with some of the world’s most famous attractions.

    The stadium is envisioned to set a new bar for what’s state-of-the-art, not just in Italy but globally.” Stadio della Roma should be ready for the 2018 season and we’re hopeful it will pay proper homage to “I Giallorossi” (The Yellow- Reds) and the city of Rome.
  • Art & Culture

    NYC. Books Expo America. Italy and the Publishing Crisis

    Three days of immersion into the editorial mechanism of the entire world. Over 500 authors, hundreds of new titles and booths, panels and events tied to the relationship between new technologies, reading, and the publishing world. Once again, the Javits Center with its immense structure welcomed hundreds of publishing houses from Wednesday 27th to Friday 29th.
     

    BEA – Book Expo America – the biggest and most anticipated editorial fair in the United States, presents itself surrounded by huge colored banners, captivating signs, gigantic book covers that attract readers and the general public.

    The weapon at hand is the book itself, flipping through it, smelling it, discovering it. Cooking and art (architecture, fashion, design, photography) never cease to be popular topics, but also themes such as magic and esotericism, fiction, illustration, and especially publications for children are pushed by the editorial market.

    The undisputed star of the show was the China delegation, the largest international delegation to ever attend the event. Expected participation will include 500+ professionals representing more than 100 publishing companies, upwards of 50 authors; all involved in 300+ professional and cultural events through BEA.

    The section of the Italian Pavillion organized by the Italian Trade Agency and AIE (Trade Association for Italian Publishers) presents itself with just as many colors and innovations. In collaboration with Bologna Children’s Book Fair, one of the world’s most important fairs, it presented a selection of the most influential Italian illustrators from the prestigious Mostra degli Illustratori (Illustrators Exhibition), which is held every year in Bologna.  

    Conceived by the Fiera del Libro per Ragazzi (The children’s book fair), ever since 1967, the Mostra degli Illustratori offers artists from all over the world a unique space to showcase their talent and get initiated into the editorial market.

    The need to specialize the publishing branches aimed at children and teens comes primarily from the United States. In the museum field there are already many children’s publications. An example is Charles Kim, Associate Publisher for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), who this year was part of the jury that selected the works in the Mostra degli Illustratori of Bologna.

    “In Europe we work in various selected markets such as London and Frankfurt, and we never skip New York. At the ICE (Italian Trade Commission) in Chicago we have an editorial desk with its own website, which we called italbooks.com” Leopoldo Sposato, Deputy Director at Chicago’s ICE, tells us.

    “We offer Italian publishing houses a public presence where there is news on the industry and the works they wish to promote on the American market. We try to be a great free showcase”. It’s obviously a question of a publishing crisis, and of an American market diverging in both numbers and logic from the Italian one. “We’re strongly pushing fiction, which here in America is a highly appreciated genre. Camilleri for example, is deeply admired”.
     

    Amongst the other stands, we can also find household names like Rizzoli USA, who after its heartfelt closure should soon reopen its new location; Europa Editions; De Agostini, distributed on American soil through Sterling, American publisher and distributor, owner of Barnes & Nobles bookstores. “Alternative business” explains Nicolo Boggio, Foreign Rights Manager for De Agostini, “is selling and yielding rights”.

    As we walk, we discover other interesting editorial realities, with their own peculiarities and their own projects. Giunta Editore, 24 Ore Cultura, the young Sime Books, founded by Giovanni Simeone, photographer and founder of the photographic agency Simephoto, which presents bilingual cookbooks that make use of appropriate American terms.

    Sillabe, specialized in art publications: exhibition catalogs, guides, essays, restoration, art for children, and artistic stationary.

    Eye-catching is the beauty of the magical and enchanted covers by Logos Editions, which welcomes us with editor Lina Vergara Huilcaman. The publishing house targets niche groups and young Italians and non-Italians, offering an interesting and vast selection in the artistic sector. Impossible to ignore the second book to appear in Italian and English edition by Pietro Sedda, internationally renown tattoo artist, Black novels for lovers, a collection of novels written in ink on skin.

    Paper Vision, another interesting project by the young artist Elena Borghi. An “artisanal book”, a first collection we could say, of #window designs, where the subject/object of the window becomes the protagonist thanks to the narrative developed around him/her by the artist, #paper designer, or visionary on paper, who ideates, projects and creates worlds of paper for the windows of Milan’s most elegant stores.

    We also met Cartiere del Garda, an internationally established industry, specializing in the printing of books, which produces paper and whose brand is recognized by the editorial print. An unusual occurrence, that of directly meeting those who produce paper “We are a paper mill based in Riva del Garda, we produce 350 thousand tons of paper and for 27 years we have been part of a great German publisher, Berghesman, and it taught us to produce paper that can be used to print high quality books” explains the director of the foreign market Alessandro Nardelli. Among their New York clients are the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MoMA.

    If you’re still not satisfied with these editorial pills on the Italian publishing houses present at the BEA, these days there are many events you shouldn’t miss such as Death of a Happy Man: Conversation with the author Giorgio Fontana, winner of the 2014 Premio Campiello, about his literary journey.
  • Arte e Cultura

    New York Design Week. Focus sui giovani italiani

    Architettura, design, tessuti, oggetti immersi in resina e molto altro. E’ facile perdersi nella miriade di eventi che questa settimana New York offre agli abitanti.

    Come tutti gli anni e’ la settimana del Design: la città si dipinge di novità, si anima ancora di

    più. Da Soho al West Village a Randalls Island, avete la possibilità di gustare eventi e panel sul significato del design nel XXI secolo, sul ruolo della donna nel Design, della nuova era digitale.

    I migliori showroom del settore come Cappellini, Kartell, Alessi e Poltrona Frau non mancano ad invitare addetti al settore e non per cocktail party e nuove collezioni. I giovani brand si affacciano sul mercato.

    In questi giorni frenetici ci siamo fatti ammaliare dallo Skylight Clarkson nel west village. La fila per entrare e’ immensa, bizzarri ‘alveari dorati’ contornano la strada e portano verso l’entrata.

    La lineaup della design week ovviamente attraversa tutti i continenti toccando le capitali del design: oltre Milano non mancano Madrid, Copenhagen, Parigi, Stoccolma, Mexico City. 

    Il Collective Design’s Fair quest’anno si e’ concentrato su speciali exhibition e gruppi di giovani designer come il solo show by influential German lighting designer Ingo Maurer, il Sight Unseen and American Design club chesi concentra molto sugli artisti emergenti, le installazioni di Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988) one of the twentieth century's most important and critically acclaimed sculptors. 

    Tra le exhibition la “Collective Focus: Italy”, curata da Stefano Tonchi, editor-in-chief di W magazine esplora l’eccellenza del nostro design e quello emergente.

    Passeggiando, provando sedie dalle forme inusuali, toccando superfici lisce e fredde, il tatto e la vista sono piacevolmente invasi dalla quantita’ di oggetti da osservare. Tra gli  artisti internazionali la ben nota Olek. L'artista polacca famosa in tutto il mondo per i suoi lavori creati con l'uncinetto occupa un ruolo dominante nell'arte urbana. 

    Non mancano le giocose e inquietanti opere dell’irriverente Maurizio Cattelan firmate Toilet Paper, la storica Memphis – Post Design Gallery con più di 30 anni di esperienza alle spalle fondata da Ettore Sottsass, colonna portante del gruppo. I colori e lo stile della galleria rispecchiano lo stile multicolor degli anni ‘80.
     
    Tra i giovani troviamo “Palafitte”, il nuovo progetto di Giacomo Moor presentato per il primo anno dalla ProjectB Gallery. L’artista Milanese ci racconta di voler indagare tramite le sue opere il rapporto tra spazio, design e ambiente. 

    I suoi mobili infatti si ispirano alla verticalità delle palafitte e al mondo orientale, il vetro sabbiato offusca la trasparenza. Tutto questo con una novità, il bambù stratificato “garantisce alta resistenza ed elasticità”.

    Tra passato glorioso come i vetri di murano della storica Venini e presente contemporaneo con nuove e innovative idee lo stesso curatore di questa mostra incentrata sul made in Italy Stefano Tonchi afferma “in Italy design is dialogue between past and present that simply never stop”.
  • Style: Articles

    New York Design Week. Collective Focus: Italy

    Architecture, design, textiles, objects covered in resin and much more. It’s easy to get lost in the myriad of events New York has to offer this week.

    Like every year, it’s design week: the city is painted with novelty, it becomes even more alive. From SoHo to the West Village, to Roosevelt Island, you have the chance to enjoy events and panels on the significance of design in the 21st century, on the role of women in design, on the new digital era.

    The best showrooms in the sector, like Cappellini, Kartell, Alessi, and Poltrona Frau, are there to invite professionals and visitors to cocktail parties and new collections. Young brands dip their toes into the market. 

    Throughout these hectic days we were seduced by the Skylight Clarkson in the West Village. The line to get in is endless, bizarre golden beehives border the street and lead to the entrance.  

    The lineup of Design Week extends across all continents touching upon the design capitols: in addition to Milan, we have Madrid, Copenhagen, Paris, Stockholm, Mexico City.

    This year, the Collective Design Fair focused on special exhibits and groups of young designers, such as the solo show by influential German lighting designer Ingo Maurer, the Sight Unseen and American Design Club – which focuses on emerging artists - , the installations of  Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), one of the 20th century’s most important and critically acclaimed sculptors.

    Among these exhibits, “Collective focus: Italy”, curated by Stefano Tonchi, editor-in-chief of W Magazine, explores the excellence of our existing and emerging design.

    Walking around, trying out unusually shaped chairs, stroking smooth, cold surfaces, touch and sight are pleasantly by the quantity of objects to observe. Amongst the international artists we find the renown Olek. The Polish artist, know throughout the world for her crochet works, takes up an important role within urban art.

    Also present are the playful and disturbing works by the irreverent Maurizio Cattelan signed Toilet Paper, the historical Memphis Post Design Gallery with over 30 years of experience founded by Ettore Sottsass, pillar of the group. The colors and style of the gallery are reminiscent of the multicolor look of the 80’s.

    Amongst the young we find “Palafitte”, the new project by Giacomo Moor, presented for the first time by Project B Gallery. The Milanese artist explains that he wants to engage, through his work, in the relationship between space, design and environment.

    His furniture is in fact inspired by the verticality of stilts and has eastern influences, the sandpaper glass clouds transparency. All this is done with a brand new thing, laminated bamboo “it guarantees high resistance and elasticity”.

    Between a glorious past with Venini’s Murano glass, and a contemporary present with new and innovative ideas, the curator of this exhibit centered around “made in Italy”, Stefano Tonchi himself states “in Italy design is a dialogue between past and present that simply never stops”.

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