Ettore Sottsass Exhibition
Friedman Benda
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Friedman Benda announces an exhibition of work by Ettore Sottsass. This series of architectural cabinets conceived by iconic 20th century architect Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) in the last years of his life is dedicated to the de Stijl master, Piet Mondrian. Never before exhibited, Piccolo Omaggio a Mondrian, translates architectural ideas into sculptural cabinetry of stunning color and form.
This remarkable body of work stands at the end of an unaparalleled career spanning six decades, in which Sottsass challenged the conventions of modernism and continuously helped reinvent the course of contemporary design.
About Ettore Sottsass:
One of the most significant counter-forces to modernism in the history of design, Ettore Sottsass has made monumental artistic contributions to every decade since his life in design began in Italy in 1945. His remarkable career has produced a provocative body of work, including architecture, furniture, industrial design, glass, ceramics, painting, photography and a wealth of writings. With this work he has consistently intellectually and aesthetically challenged the conventional wisdom of forms and proportions for over 65 years.
Sottsass has been continually driven by what Penny Sparke aptly described in her essay for LACMA’s 2006 Sottsass retrospective as “a personal search for a new language of modern design.” His rigorous pursuit has led to the creation of such groundbreaking movements as radical design, anti-design, and post-modernist architecture, which led to his founding Memphis in the early 1980s.
A central concern of much of Sottsass’ work has been the social, cultural and technical implications of architecture and design on the way people live and interact. He has been particularly affected by the new materials and technologies introduced during his lifetime. His exploration of these elements has led him to apply both newfangled and historical materials in non-traditional ways. Color and form have played a role of equal importance in Sottsass’ work and he is well-known for embracing them with a similarly radical approach. Throughout the entirety of his career, from early paintings of the 1930s to later works of architecture during the 1980s, Sottsass has used color to determine shapes within a composition and the relationship of exterior surface to interior function.
Sottsass’ remarkable career has produced a diverse array of commissions that have transformed architecture and design. Iconic built architectural works include Wolf House (1989) in Colorado and Milan’s Malpensa Airport (2000). Objects he designed for Alessi and electronic products for Olivetti, including his Valentine typewriter, have changed the landscape of industrial design. The Memphis movement, for which he is most popularly known, set the style for an entire decade.
Media
Schedule
from November 04, 2010 to December 18, 2010