For its first-ever foray into PAD Paris, the City of Light’s premier design fair, downtown+ is starting strong with some iconic displays. Through a scenography designed by Luna Laffanour, the new department of Galerie Downtown will present pieces by the illustrious Italian designer, Gaetano Pesce, in dialogue with pieces by the contemporary Greek artist Theodore Psychoyos.
Gaetano Pesce, born on November 8, 1939 in La Spezia, Italy, is an avant-garde architect and designer renowned for his experimental approach to materials and his bold use of shapes and colors. He is mainly known for his “Up Series” armchair (1969), a symbol of social criticism. Pesce left his mark on design and architecture through his rejection of convention, integrating art, design and social criticism in his work. Having been active since the 1960s, he continues to exert influence on the field through his teaching and innovative creations.
To pay tribute to Pesce, downtown+ will be exhibiting the Sansone table, designed in 1980 for Cassina. An influential artist of Radical design, Pesce was firmly opposed to the mass production of furniture.
Although produced in several editions, it is impossible to find two identical pieces. Cut edges, non-linear painting… Pesce rebelled against the industrial perfection of modernism by designing furniture and objects whose form is both expressive and eccentric.
Alongside the Sansone table, Luna Laffanour will present a fitting room from the Dujardin store in Knokke-le-Zoute. In 1994, Pesce was commissioned to decorate the Dujardin store, a perfect illustration of the playfulness of his work. Combining art and design, this fitting room is a perfect example of Pesce’s artistic research.
In the same spirit of questioning ‘know-how’ and manufacturing dexterity downtown+ will showcase the work of Theodore Psychoyos, an iconoclastic contemporary marble artist whose raw, archaic pieces, devoid of aesthetic effort or intention, seem to defy time, chance and gravity. A true dialogue will be installed between these two designers who, despite their different approaches, share a playful, rebellious vision. Pesce, known for his bold use of color and synthetic resins, creates pieces that celebrate the unique and the irregular. Psychoyos, with his preference for stone, marble and more sober tones, anchors his art in the inescapable matrix rock.
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to aspire design and home magazine.