O Y S T E R
I S S U E
•
n° 2 8 •
2 0 2 1
ART DESIGN FOR UNIQUE INTERIORS
[ ART ON BOARD ]
150
The art projects by Visionnaire reveal their creative and innovative power in exhibitions and shows with a particular emphasis on society and the environment by Micaela Zucconi
T
he distinction between art, design and architecture has never been so vague. According to Paola Colombari, a trendsetter in this field since 1981, Art design, with unique or limited edition pieces where the object’s function is
charged with artistic expressiveness, came into being at the start of the new century as a natural evolution of collecting in postmodern design. If the Design Miami show, a forum that brings together galleries and collectors from around the world in what is in fact a niche market, has become one of the most important events, we should also remember the precursors to this trend, a group that includes Carlo Mollino, Giò Ponti, Osvaldo Borsani, Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini. Now it’s the turn of contemporary proponents like Alessandro La Spada, who in 2017 presented the first Art Design project by Visionnaire, a brand founded by Ipe in 2004. This took the form of a limited-edition installation called “Sandrino the Butcher”, exhibited in the display windows of the Harrods store on London’s Brompton Road. Visionnaire has continued along this road with other innovative designer projects alongside limitededition collections and one-offs reflecting client specifications, based on knowhow built up by the company in Bologna through 62 years of activity in the metaluxury furnishings sector, producing design that goes beyond luxury. The company’s Milan showrooms, occupying more than two thousand square metres of floor space in the former Cavour cinema, have been transformed into a gallery dedicated to
Left, Aracea, a standing LED lamp inspired by vines with oval leaves, designed by Gupica (Gunilla Zamboni). Right, top Apple floor lamp: the luminous disk is adjustable thanks to an upper handle covered in leather. Bottom, the Foil sunbed, Capsule Caprice, from the biennial Beauty collection by Matijana Radovic and Marco Bonelli of m2atelier, also suitable for the deck of a yacht
151
[ ART ON BOARD ]
The art exhibtion “Sedimento” at Wunderkammer Visionnaire Milano, a collaboration with Bottega Ceramica Gatti. Right, from the art design capsule Non voglio mica la luna by Draga & Aurel, part of the biennial Beauty collection, the Lego coffee table in sea-salt eroded cement and metal fusions
contemporary art projects. Wunderkammer, opened in 2011, is a modern chamber of wonders inspired by those of the past, which served as showcases for curios and travel mementoes. It has hosted a series of exhibitions of works by designers and artists, from the recent “Regine” by Paolo Leonardo to the current exhibition presented during the September design week, the result of a collaboration with Bottega Ceramica Gatti, entitled “Sedimento”. “In the context of the September show we’ve also taken part in Alcova, now in its third edition, developed in the workshops of Cova Panettoni and conceived by Joseph Grima and Valentina Ciuffi. This year the setting was an abandoned military zone, now overgrown, and included the “De Rerum
152
153
[ ART ON BOARD ]
To side, a work by the artist Paolo Leonardo, from the Regina exhibition, in the Visionnaire WunderKammer, a series of late 19th century erotic photographs on gilded enamel. Bottom, the Amos table from the Non voglio mica la luna capsule by Draga & Aurel with Sputnik lamp. Background, a mosaic work by CaCO3, an artists’ collective comprising Aniko Ferreira da Silva, Giuseppe Donnaloia and Pavlos Mavromatidis
Natura” exhibition, an installation presenting the entire family of Aracea lights by Gupica (Gunilla Zamboni). These adjustable lamps are inspired by a liana with large leaves”, says architect Marco Morandini, curator of the Wunderkammer. “The latest proposals include the “Non voglio mica la luna” (“I Really Don’t Want the Moon”, ed.) capsule by Draga&Aurel, part of the Beauty collection, with the Amos sculptural table, Lego console with low table and Sputnik light architecture, a metal origami piece with spectacular effects. The collaboration with Michele Astolfi, however, is a more long-established partnership. His jewel-like paintings are soon to be on display at the Hong Kong Visionnaire Embassy, opened in 2019”. Lastly, the “Caprice” collection from m2atelier by architects Marijana Radovic and Marco Bonelli, an outdoor project inspired by nature. “All our production emphasises uniqueness, artisanality and technical evolution, using traceable materials with increasingly lower environmental impact. This rigorous commitment was announced in the in the art book manifesto “Decàlogo”. The objective is that our lower-impact approach should play an increasingly important role and form part of our corporate strategy”, Morandini concludes. 154