B&B Beirut - Italian Masters

OPERA GALLERY BEIRUT X B&B ITALIA BEIRUT

ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY MASTERS

U M B E R TO M A R I A N I P ino M ano s M ar c ello Lo G I u d i c e

/ ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY MASTERS B&B ITALIA OPERA GALLERY

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of B&B Italia and the opening of their new flagship store in Beirut, Opera Gallery was delighted to bring together the work of three preeminent Italian contemporary artists to celebrate art and design.

“Italian Contemporary Masters” presented a nuanced look at the treatment of space, color and language of the Italian artistic AvantGarde. The exhibition featured the work of Umberto Mariani, Pino Manos and Marcello Lo Giudice that brought a fresh interpretation of some of the most influential aesthetic and conceptual stylistic trends within Italian Art of the latter half of the 20th century and into contemporary practice.

/ OPERA GALLERY

In this regard, one of the core thematic explorations concerns the influence of Lucio Fontana’s Spatialism and the corresponding synthetisation of color, space, gesture and time between the art object and the viewer.

The show started with a presentation of Umberto Mariani’s artwork during a lavish event organized by Le Cercle at Le Yacht Club in Beirut on the October 6, 2017, under the patronage of the Italian Ambassador in Beirut, H.E. Mr. Massimo Marotti and in the presence of Mr. Massimiliano Busnelli and the artist.

“Italian Contemporary Masters” opened to the public at B&B Italia showroom in Beirut from October 7 to November 7, 2017, in a unique setup where Italian excellence, art and design blend.

_ Salwa Chalhoub Director Opera Gallery Beirut

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Founded in 1994 by Gilles Dyan, member of the European Chamber of Expert-Advisors in Fine Art (C.E.C.O.A.), Opera Gallery Group -now internationally established with 12 galleries in the world- is one of the rare international art gallery networks with locations on several continents: North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Since its creation, Opera Gallery Group has always strived to offer its international collectors unique access to a diversity of multicultural artists, from the works of Modern Masters such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Bernard Buffet, Henri Matisse, Lucio Fontana or Andy Warhol, to the most sought-after contemporary artists: Marc Quinn, Yayoi Kusama, Yue Minjun, David Mach, Gérard Rancinan, Lita Cabellut or Joe Black. Opera Gallery Group also guarantees and protects the heritage of established modern and contemporary artists through rigorous collaborations with museums and art centers around the world, as Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku Azerbaijan or Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, Korea.

_ Practical information Opera Gallery Beirut Foch 94, Foch Avenue Beirut central district T + 961 1 971 471 beirut@operagallery.com

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Bruno Hitti COO at Le Cercle

Massimiliano Busnelli Director of B&B Italia, Research & Development Center

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/ B&B ITALIA

Founded in 1966 by the late Piero Ambrogio Busnelli, B&B Italia is currently headquartered in north Milan, in a building designed by architectural greats Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. The Busnelli family has been recognizing talent and creating strong alliances with the most creative minds.

Today, under the leadership of CEO Giorgio Busnelli, Piero’s son, the company continues to look to the future with a clear vision for innovative collaborations and designs.

The early years saw the propulsion of daring experimentation in design and manufacturing processes. The revolutionary technique of injection moulding yielded icons of design such as the ‘Serie Up’ and ‘Amanta’ armchairs, and the ‘Coronado’ and ‘Lombrico’ sofas. The 1970s and 1980s served as milestones with multiple Compasso

/ CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE

d’Oro awards (Italy’s most recognized industrial design awards) and radical pieces that showcased a blend of traditional and experimental techniques. The 1990s were defined by functional designs by Citterio, and linear forms that merged aesthetics and functionality. The brand’s passion for innovation and design stretched into the millennium with a fruitful partnership with Urquiola with the ‘Fat Fat’ ottoman and the ‘Lens’ table. The beginning of the current decade was marked with Urquiola’s ‘Bend’ and Citterio’s ‘Ray’ sofas, two of the brand’s bestsellers. Recent additions like the ‘Tobi-Ishi’ table by Barber & Osgerby, the ‘Oskar’ table by Vincent Van Duysen and the ‘Almora’ armchair by Doshi Levien have quickly become modern classics.

Apart from its home division, the firm is a leader on the international design scene with furnishing contracts for the new Apple headquarter called the Apple Park in Cupertino and for in the Bulgari Hotels in Milan and London, Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Barcelona, and W Hotel in St Petersburg, besides a series of offices and cruise liners.

The Busnellis had always dreamed of bringing a sophisticated quality of industrial design to the world. To mark B&B Italia’s 50th anniversary, the second generation of the Busnelli family launched a series of celebratory projects rooted in the brand’s past and current identity. A documentary film, a book and an exhibition showcase a new interpretation of the company’s extraordinary creativity and innovation. These initiatives have emphasized B&B Italia’s commitment to spreading the culture of design worldwide and were masterfully curated by Opera Gallery & Le Cercle in Beirut.

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_ Practical information B&B Italia Beirut An Nahar Building Martyrs Square - Downtown Beirut T + 961 1 971 444 bebitalia@lecercle.me 6/

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Umberto

MARIANI [b. 1936]

Umberto Mariani was born in Milan, Italy, in 1936.

His family home was used as a refuge for Jews persecuted during World War II. The war left lasting impressions on the artist, particularly in the last months of 1945, and his works have been in continual evolution ever since. Mariani’s first phase is marked by the presence of bright colors dominating the canvas. His recent works show a complex use of shadows using white and black drapery, his signature alphabet letters and embossed symbols, all signs of the dramatic, semantic ambiguity of a language that is not always decipherable. Drawing much of his inspiration from the classical Greek statues that he grew up around in Italy, Mariani’s fascination with the balance between fragility of form and strength of material is evidenced in these highly textured pieces. The method of drapery on the canvas constitutes intricate illusions of light and shadow, at once concealing and revealing what lies beneath.

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_ Umberto MARIANI La forma celata, 2017 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 100 x 130 cm - 39.4 x 51.2 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI La forma celata, 2017 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 120 x 120 cm - 47.2 x 47.2 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI Senza titolo, 2014 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 90 x 120 cm - 35.4 x 47.2 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI La forma celata, 2017 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 130 x 100 cm - 51.2 x 39.4.in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI La forma celata, 2017 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 80 x 60 cm - 31.5 x 23.6 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI Senza titolo, 2017 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 90 x 120 cm - 35.4 x 47.2 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI La forma celata, 2013 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 120 x 90 cm - 47.2 x 35.4 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI Taghelmoust: Il Velo, 2016 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 120 x 90 cm - 47.2 x 35.4 in.

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_ Umberto MARIANI Senza titolo, 2016 Vinyl and sand on lead sheet 120 x 90 cm - 47.2 x 35.4 in.

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Pino

Manos [b. 1930]

Pino Manos was born in Sassari, Italy, in 1930. He moved to Milan in 1951 to attend the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera, along with Enrico Castellani and Vincenzo Agnetti. A friend of Roberto Crippa, Gianni Dova, Marino Marini, Augustino Bonalumi and especially of Lucio Fontana, he adhered to the Spatialism movement. In 1962 he was called to London, along with thirty of the most eminent artists in Europe to be part of the Manifesto “Europe 1962�

Painting and Sculpture organized by the New Vision Centre Gallery as the basis of the emerging European Union. Manos participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and other parts of the world; his works are in several private and public collections in Italy and abroad. Three of his works feature in the Nelson Rockefeller collection in New York, USA.

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_ Pino MANOS SincronicitĂ rosso fluo, 2016 Mixed media on canvas 95 x 135 cm - 37.4 x 53.1 in.

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_ Pino MANOS Spazio estroflesso grafite argentea, 2011 Mixed media on canvas 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in

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_ Pino MANOS Spazio estroflesso rosso arancio luce, 2013 Mixed media on canvas 70 x 70 cm - 27.6 x 27.6 in.

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_ Pino MANOS Spazio estroflesso giallo solare, 2013 Mixed media on canvas 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in.

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_ Pino MANOS Sincronico bianco ritmico, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in.

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_ Pino MANOS Sincronicità rosso fuoco dinàmica, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 60 x 120 cm - 23.6 x 47.2 in.

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_ Pino MANOS DÏttico sincrònico essenziale bianco, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 90 x 90 cm - 35.4 x 35.4 in.

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Marcello

Lo Giudice [b. 1957]

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Marcello Lo Giudice was born in 1957 in Taormina, Sicily. He graduated with a degree in Geology from Bologna University and attended the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Venice, studying under three Italian Art protagonists of the second part of the 20th century: Emilio Vedova, Giuseppe Santomaso and Virgilio Guidi. After experimenting in Conceptual Art during the 1970s, with wax, strawberries, smoke and burned paper, he began an original research project that led him to develop his current ‘sedimentary’ painting style.

Recognized as an artist with an international spirit and influence, he has exhibited his works in galleries, fairs and public and private collections worldwide and was reviewed by nearly every esteemed art critic in Italy. He currently works between Milan, Paris and Noto. His canvases are structured by thick layers of pigment and coating, buried and reemerging under various phases of scratching, abrasions, removals and levels. Giving shape to the matter and inconsistent bodies of hue and material, his work brings attention to the cyclical alliance between man and matter.

The vivid monochromatic yellow encompasses the muddy and the vibrant, the dark and flat, the embellished and illuminated in the hue, exposing that which nature has contained for herself.

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_ Marcello Lo Giudice Yellow / Sun, 2015 Pigment and oil on canvas 150 x 150 cm - 59.1 x 59.1 in.

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_ Marcello Lo Giudice Red / Rouge, 2010 Pigment and oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm - 39.4 x 39.4 in.

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_ Marcello Lo Giudice Blu, 2016 Pigment and oil on canvas 130 x 130 cm - 51.2 x 51.2 in.

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lecercle.me

We would like to thank the artists for their trust, the Italian Ambassador in Beirut, H.E. Mr Massimo Marotti and Le Cercle Hitti and B&B Italia team in Beirut. We would also like to thank all our collectors for their kind support throughout the years.

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Coordinators: Muriel Asmar, Tom Masson Designer: CĂŠline Lebrun, Nicolas Imbert Photography: Courtesy of Opera Gallery and the artist Cover: Umberto Mariani, La forma celata, 2017

Foch 94, Foch Avenue

Beirut central district

T + 961 1 971 471

beirut@operagallery.com

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