Art Meets Design / Form Follows Meaning (II)

Due mostre: Art Meets Design e Form Follows Meaning (II).

Comunicato stampa

Espinasse31 Contemporary Art Gallery is pleased to present ‘Art Meets Design’, a two-part group exhibition featuring works by seven artists, on show from September 5 to October 31. Since its beginnings, the gallery has intently focused on the intersection between fine art and other creative disciplines, such as fashion—as spotlighted in its 2017 group exhibition ‘Art Fucks Fashion’, May 2017—and now design. This comes at a time when the city of Milan once again becomes the international capital of innovation, creativity, and beauty; after a year and a half on stand by, the historical Salone del Mobile returns for its 2021 edition.

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The reopening of Espinasse31 Contemporary Art Gallery for a new season honours this exciting milestone. The gallery, whose focus on highlighting its design projects and those of its artists has recently grown, announces its first-ever group exhibition featuring both artworks and furniture pieces in its Milan gallery space (Viale Carlo Espinasse 31), as well as an installation of sculptural works in its temporary exhibition space, the Zaha Hadid Residences in CityLife Milano (Via Senofonte 2/A).

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For this first part of ‘Art Meets Design’, Espinasse31 connects the two disciplines of art and design under three different aesthetic frameworks: minimalism, abstraction, and new age sustainability. Keeping the idea of coexistence as a central axis, the gallery’s first three exhibition spaces are transformed, emulating a living space rather than a showroom. With this in mind, works by Veronica Mar, Carlos Cesar Alves and Robi Walters are exhibited, juxtaposing the art and design iterations of each artist’s idiosyncratic creativity. In order to fortify the relationship between both disciplines, a sculptural installation by Marcello Silvestre—architect, designer, and artist—is also exhibited in the last space, thus visually concluding the tour of the gallery’s Milan headquarters.

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Whether art and design are one and the same thing has always been a debate among professionals of both areas. Art is said to ask questions while design provides the answers. However, a truly holistic approach places questions and answers, form and function, emotion and reason, all in the same box and under the same umbrella: beauty we can live with. By showing the way in which paintings, sculptures, and furnishings may share the same visual principles, the first part of ‘Art Meets Design’ places the spotlight on style, as a way of translating an aesthetic identity into a way of living.

This philosophy is embodied through the works of Verónica Mar. The Spanish contemporary artist and designer, whose works represent pure beauty and functionality, seeks to represent the essence of nature and the soul through a minimum material presence. Her organic lines, as depicted in the form of painting, are the basis of all that she creates; they recall constant movement and regeneration, while taking on a light and ethereal presence. The same can be said for her design pieces, created under Mies van der Rohe’s “less is more” mindset, and aiming to integrate nature in interior spaces. Among her key values, Verónica Mar mentions “sustainability, harmony and humanism”; this way, the creative identity that she presents to the world is not just an artistic style, but also a lifestyle. A successful creative, Mar has previously exhibited her furniture works in Milan Design Week with Porcelanosa and Rossana Orlandi. For this year’s event, Espinasse31 presents a comprehensive vision of her oeuvre by showing paintings, sculptures, and sculptural furnishings within one same space. For the gallery, the adaptability of her art and design works into the living space is key, and further exemplified through a maquette; specially created for this occasion, it allows us to envision Mar’s Unity sculptures, Soul benches, and Ula furniture in marble—all within the reach of our homes.

All in all, in this second part of Form Follows Meaning II, Espinasse31 presents a unique encounter between a giant of architectural design and three contemporary sculptors. Focusing on the ideas of contrast, equilibrium, and dialogue, the exhibition sheds light on the common essence shared by art and design, as carriers of beauty and vehicles to fulfilment. By placing art within design, the gallery displays the alluring vitality of sculpture, while underlining the unconditional quality of good design.