Andrea Anastasio. Mimetics. Ceramics: Reflections and refractions

February 10th - March 2nd, 2024

ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA

Calle Mayor, 86. Madrid. Spain

On the occasion of Madrid Design Festival 2024, the Italian Institute of Culture of Madrid presents the first exhibition in Spain of the Italian designer Andrea Anastasio, organised by the Institute in collaboration with Ceramica Gatti 1928, Foscarini and the Museum of Oriental Art of Turin, under the auspices of the Embassy of Italy in Madrid.

Mimetics. Ceramics: reflections and refractions brings together several series of ceramic works that Andrea Anastasio has produced for Ceramica Gatti 1928 since 2018, the year in which he became artistic director of this historic workshop based in Faenza (Italy).

The pieces on display are the result of research work carried out by Anastasio in the workshop's archive, searching for a repertoire of forms and materials used over the decades. Taking this archive as a reference and questioning it in relation to our present, the designer has tried to find those moments in the history of the decorative arts that could be significant today, as an opportunity to reflect on and confront a series of themes that are increasingly central to his work: the relationship between tradition and modernity, the formal manifestation of trauma, fragility as a poetic resource and the exploration of the forms of the past as a way of existing in our own time.

The result of this research, which spans the last 6 years, is exhibited in the 3 exhibition spaces of the Italian Institute of Culture in Madrid. In the Sala Belvedere, there is an alternation of Volpedo, ancient forms of pourers and vases from the Italian folk tradition; the Intervalli, non-linear narratives of ornamental panels dedicated to hunts, the seasons and saints. The Auree, floor vases to reflect flowers in other people's shadows; the Esodi, which create other natures, possible animal utopias. The Trottole, who make play a raison d'être and a triumph of colour; and the Battuti, who celebrate handprints on clay.

In the Hall of Mirrors we find three metallic lustre ceramics from the Persian Middle Ages from the collection of the Museum of Oriental Art in Turin, which act as protective divinities for the Crateri and Riflessi di Alta Quota, placing them in a revealing narrative lineage.

The White Room brings together Andrea Anastasio's ceramic research for Foscarini, the renowned Italian lighting company, where experimentation and artistic practice are transformed into lamps, highlighting the historical relationship that has linked clay with light. Among the designs on view are: Fregio, a suspension and wall lamp; and Intervallo, which takes the urban niche of Neapolitan alleyways into the world of emotions and domestic chores. This last piece is part of the Battiti research project presented by Foscarini at Fuorisalone 2022, based on research into light and ceramics.

The exhibition Light Thread, which brings together the works produced in a didactic workshop that Andrea Anastasio held during the second semester of 2023 with the students of the Escuela Técnica Superior of the University of Navarra in Pamplona, thanks to a collaboration agreement with the prestigious Spanish university and the Italian Institute of Culture in Madrid, completes the exhibition.

ANDREA ANASTASIO

Born in Rome in 1961. After graduating in philosophy at Ca' Foscarini University in Venice, he embarked on a cultural journey that led him to collaborate on projects to catalogue Islamic architecture in India, on research into the innovation of traditional craft techniques and on collaborations with architects, publishers and museums. Fascinated by the study of the poetics of conceptual art and its possible convergence with industrial design, he designs furniture and objects for leading Italian companies on the international scene. His research focuses on the manipulation of objects, consumer goods and domestic materials to generate contaminations of languages and meanings.

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