Ralph Pucci is no stranger to a great collaboration. Since joining the family’s mannequin business in 1976, he has revolutionized the Pucci namesake into one of the world’s premier galleries—featuring top artists and designers in the process. It’s only fitting that gallery’s latest exhibitions for its New York outpost—Echo, Beans, and Etna—celebrate collaborations both new and old.
As Alexandre Logé’s first collection with RALPH PUCCI, one that was three years in the making, Echo enlists an assortment of diverse materials to give classic silhouettes a sculptural edge. “I am deeply inspired by African art and designs of the 1940s, which has informed the rounded and tactile designs in this collection,” the French designer explains. A curated collection of lighting and furniture, the materials featured in Echo run the gamut from a parchment top on the Kalder Side Table to the Hanabi Large Lighting Pendant, which is made with three shades of bronze. In fact, Logé shares that several pieces were handmade in RALPH PUCCI’s sculpting studio, using its proprietary Plasterglass to give a “personal and unique touch.”
But while Echo honors a new collaboration—Pucci says he’s “long admired Alexandre’s work, especially in the limited-edition space”—the gallery reignites long-standing partnerships with Elizabeth Garouste and Nina Seirafi for Beans and Etna, respectively.
Nearly 10 years after her first show with RALPH PUCCI, Garouste’s Beans highlights seven new Plasterglass works, all of which examine the intersection of imagination and functionality. Though the Parisian designer might be known for using middle age and neoclassic influences to bring a whimsical sensibility to her pieces, Garouste used Beans to enhance her innovation. “I wanted my collection to play with colors and even to introduce a new material: Mosaic,” she explains. “I’ve always loved putting color in my objects and furniture in order to bring joie de vivre into the home.”
Meanwhile, Seirafi explores the rawer end of the design spectrum with Etna, her 10-piece furniture collection. “My search for brutalism has exceeded beyond brutalist architecture and design,” says the New York-based designer, who has worked with RALPH PUCCI since 2017. “I find brutalism in nature to be the most inspiring source for my designs.”
Structure and proportions take center stage as Seirafi reimagines brutalism in an array of upscale materials. From a lava-carved coffee table that’s finished with a geometric pattern inspired by Mount Etna to the Crystalo Bench, a linear seat made of crystal stone, Seirafi continues to find beauty in brutalism.
In addition to the three collections, RALPH PUCCI also released the Libre Chair by Paul Mathieu and Patrick Naggar’s Geometric Sconce, proving once again that a good collaboration knows no bounds.
Echo, Beans, and Etna are currently on display at Ralph Pucci’s New York Penthouse. Learn more about these exhibitions at www.ralphpucci.com.
Photography by Antoine Bootz.
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