GALLERIA ANTONIO COLOMBO ARTE CONTEMPORANEA – OPENING NEW ALESSANDRO MENDINI EXHIBITION

Text and images courtesy of Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea

Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea, Milan : 25 Nov 2021- 12 March 2022

In the Garden of Eden
A landscape of things with Alessandro Mendini and friends

Alessandro Mendini always made collaboration with others a central part of his work: artists, architects, designers, artisans, musicians, writers… From the editorial staff of the legendary magazine Casabella to his year of the “New Utopia” with Domus, from Studio Alchimia to Atelier Mendini, from products for Alessi to the Groningen Museum, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of names with whom he worked on the idea that groups and associations, no matter how heterogeneous, can generate small and large aesthetic revolutions.

Dalisi Riccardo, Senza Titolo, 2003-2004, acrilico su carta, 150 x 100 cm | Guerriero Alessandro, Al diavolo Alchimia, 2015, olio su tela, 30 x 40 cm | Paladino Mimmo, Parade, 2015, acquerello su carta, 60×80 cm | Tusquets Oscar, Molly, 2009, olio e acrilico su tela, 31 x 46 cm

Alessandro Mendini, Architettura Utopica Le Case Sussurranti, 2001-2021, litografia in quadricromia, 42×29,7 cm | Pierre Charpin, Senza Titolo, 2018, inchiostro e matita su carta per acquerello, 56 x 77 cm ©Atelier Pierre Charpin | Mocika Alex, Barfly, 2007, acrilico su tela. 164×118 cm | Pierre Charpin, Senza Titolo, 2018, inchiostro e matita su carta per acquerello, 56 x 77 cm ©Atelier Pierre Charpin

The exhibition In the Garden of Eden (the Earthly Paradise that also appears in one of his philosophical diagrams), based on an idea of Antonio Colombo and curated by Stefano Casciani with the cooperation of Elisa and Fulvia Mendini, brings together works by some of the figures who accompanied Mendini in projects on many different scales.

Presented by Zipblind

The result is the symbolic formation of a very new group, representing the variety and originality of individual attitudes and ideas, which Mendini was often able to discover and spread.

Cantafora Arduino, Domenica, 2016, olio su tavola, 80×120 cm | Occhiomagico,1982, Domus Symbionic Portraits, 40×30 cm | Hamel Maria Christina, Libellula vaso blu, 2017, china su carta e pantone, 21×29,7 cm | Raggi Franco, 3 case, 2018, inchiostro e acquerello su carta, 33×24 cm

In the exhibition and its catalogue, the works on view – paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, glass, furniture and objects, one-of-a-kind pieces or editions – converge to define an intellectual, cultural and physical landscape of authors that represent an important presence on the scene of art and design, in Italy and on an international level.

Rashid Karim, Korpus Cabinet, 2021, render digitale | Ceccariglia Carla, Cabinet, Beauty, 1989, lacquered wood, 110 x 50 x 29 cm | Koziara Dorota, Angelo, 2021, vimini intrecciato, max 185x120x85 cm | De Lucchi Michele, Casetta 162, 2008, rovere e noce, 20.5 x 34 x 21 cm

This is thus a demonstration of the “Mendini Theorem”: the idea that collective work can trigger achievement, generating important new creations and having a long and happy life, when every project is open to other voices, as in a grand Gesamtkunstwerk of visions, forms and people.

Caiazzo Massimo, Archetipo Mediterraneo, 2010, mosaic, glass, Ø 80 cm x 5 cm | Oscar Tusquets, Serpiente, 1983, metallo argentato, cm 46,5 diam x10 | Gili Anna, Cro, 1985 riedizione 2015, vaso scultura in ceramica smaltata, edizione limitata di 50, 38,5×45,5×20 cm | Gregory Bruno, Senza Titolo, 2020, still da video, computer grafica 3D, 00’43”, loop

Beaurin Vincent, Perdika, 2019, polistirene, resina epossidica, glitter di vetro, 38 x 41 x 27 cm | Jaime Hayon, Hopebird D15, ceramica dipinta a mano in oro 24K, edizione limitata di 99, produzione Bosa, d. 57 cm x h. 130 cm | Giacon Massimo, Coniglieschio incontra Proust, 2021, ceramica smaltata, cm 70x25x35 | Mendini A., Poltrona di Proust Paradise, 2019, miniatura in ceramica, decoro decalcomania, ed. limitata, 28×20. x16.5 cm, A Mendini.Cose | Casciani Stefano, Due vasi reversibili Conosfera, 1991, ceramica, edizione Gabi Faeh, h 52 cm

The Authors:
Vincent Beaurin, Massimo Caiazzo, Arduino Cantafora, Stefano Casciani, Carla Ceccariglia, Pierre Charpin, Riccardo Dalisi, Michele De Lucchi, Massimo Giacon, Anna Gili, Bruno Gregory, Alessandro Guerriero, Maria Christina Hamel, Jaime Hayon, Dorota Koziara, Alex Mocika, Occhio Magico, Mimmo Paladino, Franco Raggi, Karim Rashid, Luigi Serafini, Studio Job, Oscar Tusquets.

The show also includes new editions by Alessandro Mendini.

GALLERIA ANTONIO COLOMBO ARTE CONTEMPORANEA 
Via Solferino 44 – 20121 Milano

Opening Thursday 25 November, 15.30-20.30
On view until 12 March 2022
Tuesday – Friday, 10.00 / 13.00 and 15.00 / 19.00 – Saturday 15.00 / 19.00

Curated by Stefano Casciani, based on an idea of Antonio Colombo