Gaetano Pesce is a major figure in post-war Italian and international design. It's hard to sum up a body of work as protean and rich as his. In fact, a glance at his biography reveals him to be an architect, environmental designer, painter, sculptor, stylist, set designer, teacher and contemporary philosopher! His talent, open to disciplines other than design, is the sign of a strong personality, open to the world, which is reflected in the creation of his pieces.
Biography
Born in La Spezia in 1939, Gaetano Pesce studied architecture at the IUAV in Venice, where he also attended the experimental Institute of Industrial Design. Since 1962, he has been working in the field of design, experimenting with new materials and unusual forms. In 1969, the designer conceived perhaps his most emblematic work, the Fauteuil UP5 Donna or Chair Up Dressed. This chair, with its evocative shapes, is an ode to femininity... imprisoned and under the yoke of male domination. "This design allowed me to express my vision of women. Always sedentary, she remains a prisoner of herself. The shape of this armchair, evoking the generous forms of a woman, restrained by a ball and chain on her foot, allowed me to return to the traditional image of the prisoner". In 1972, he took part in the famous exhibition "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape" at MoMA in New York, with a proposal for a dwelling. Experimentation and irony are also to be found in his projects for Cassina, including the Tramonto a New York sofa (1980) and the I Feltri armchair (1987). After a long stay in Paris, in 1983 he settled in New York, where he lives and works. His work can be found in the world's leading design museums.