FASHION, ART AND DESIGN MEET ON THE BRIDGE OF LOVE
LUNGARNO SERRISTORI – PIAZZA POGGI
LUISAVIAROMA pays homage to its hometown with Design on Water, a conceptual exhibition on display at The Bridge of Love. The showcase marks the first use of the Arno River as a high concept exhibition space. LUISAVIAROMA invites designers, artists and galleries to present works related to the 13th edition of Firenze4Ever, Underwater Love
The exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of the flood that submerged Florence in 1966 and navigates themes related to the refugee crisis, an epic tragedy facing society today. Six cubes of The Bridge of Love are outfitted with a unique interpretation of water as a symbol of destruction and renewal, hope and solidarity. Visitors are guided through the exhibition with the curation of LUISAVIAROMA.
The exhibition is inaugurated 14 June in collaboration with Sky Arte HD.
AS BIG AS A WHALE
The Whale “My Zoo” designed by Martí Guixé is the protagonist of the installation by MAGIS. Viewers are invited to repaint the largest whale in the world in an original way.
A central character of legend and literature—from the original story of Jonah reported in the Old Testament to the Pinocchio fairytale written by Carlo Collodi later reinterpreted by Walt Disney—the belly of the whale represents a space of human introspection where fears are overcome and spiritual or intellectual insights are gained.
The exhibition invites visitors into this space for a momentary shift of collective consciousness.
HEART WITH WATERLILY
Marcantonio uses a rarefied, symbolic poetry made of raw and hyper-realistic forms. Heart with Waterlily (“Cuore Con Ninfea”) is placed at the heart of the installation as an independent sculpture and allegory of artist as interpreter of nature.
Nature represents an infinity of forms that we all have inside. This work is meant to remind us that we are nature, our veins are like branches. Water is life, and the heart is the symbol of the self, love, the vital pulse, passion that can generate something as beautiful as a flower.
WATERNESS
CTRLZAK Studio and JCP present water as a sensual element, life as the origin and womb of all things. Playing with transparency and reflection, water is a mirage that fuses art and design in an alchemical way.
The installation “Dolmlod” in the middle of the room is a table designed for JCP, displaying a multitude of glasses and decanters (“Level”) made of borosilicate glass of different sizes filled with water that drips from the ceiling. Waterness is completed with a tasting of different types of water.
The barman, as a conductor, directs the scene wearing an “Unseen” smock, a project created exclusively for LUISAVIAROMA which presents a series of kitchen accessories drawn from microorganisms invisible to the human eye but present in the water.
RIPPLED WAVE
Dilmos presents Daniele Papuli, an artist from Puglia who transforms paper into unique works of contemporary design. “Rippled Wave” is a theatrical and suggestive representation of water as a fluid element with infinite variation.
On the ceiling a wide white wave interspersed with light and in blue descends and crosses the streams of a source. The luminous infiltration reveals shadows, leaving space to the visitor who approaches the work and discovers it like a treasure. Light and ethereal sculptures describe water through its density, reflections, ripples, depths and vibrations that appear within Design on Water.
Within the scene created by Daniele Papuli appear a series of pieces that are part of the history of Dilmos made by various designers including the steel accent table Memories and chaise lounge Onda by Gianni Osgnach; the Turner armchair, Solidimolli cube and Jolli vase by Alessandro Ciffo; and the stool Abyss and ceramics by Roberta Colombo.
LAGOONA
Lagoona is populated by mythical creatures that lurk in the obscurity of the sea. Out of his precious universe of ceramics, Matteo Cibic tells the myth of the deep sea presenting gigantic and ferocious beasts, which in the collective imagination induce fear in sailors.
These original works for Dodo were presented at Milan’s Salone del Mobile. On occasion of Underwater Love, they transform into a marine bestiary emerging from fog and water like monsters capable of ferrying us, with their dreamy eyes, towards a visionary and surreal world full of bibliographic references.
PACK
Secondome Gallery presents an installation by Stefano Marolla, in which furniture is an object evocative of identity and family. The artist’s moving works, who forges sheets of wood by Palissandro Santos, molding them as the waves of the sea with the remains with which they come across. The visual power corresponds to a rational rigor, the theatrical dimension to the rule.
My work is an organic work, inspired by draping, waves, dunes. It’s a work in movement. Each piece creates itself. I can only control it a little. I never know which waves will ride my sheet of wood.
MIGRATION
Bitossi Ceramiche and Alessio Sarri present a metaphorical ceramic installation dedicated to the sea where, on the surface of the water, birds migrate to new and luminous shores.
The possibility to be reinvented is the way of man when creating a new habitat capable of welcome. Aldo Londi, artistic director of Bitossi Ceramiche for over four decades, creates a expressive language made up of matter and form painted in an unmistakable color: blue. Here he presents the “Birds” series, in creation since 1955.
HOPE
Lapo Ciatti takes inspiration from the word “Rope” for an installation to the tune of “Time Waits for No Man” by Lisa E.Harris. In case of necessity, even the most simple object such as a rope has the potential to become a solid support to throw into the sea and hold onto.
19 Ropes represent the hope of a better life, away from war, persecution and famine. An explosion of red flowers born from an idea by Gherardo Frassa and manufactured by Fiori di Latta symbolize comfort and consolation. Red poppies symbolize love, the only force that can overcome adversity at sea and on land.
