By Dan Howarth
Boldly shaped and coloured designs by Memphis group founder Ettore Sottsass are on display alongside some of the historic artefacts they reference, and contemporary objects they in turn influenced, at The Met Breuer museum in New York.
Ettore Sottsass: Design Radical opened last week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s satellite venue, taking over the brutalist building’s third-floor galleries.
Organised by curator Christian Larsen, the exhibition brings together work spanning the late Italian architect and designer’s 60-year career – including furniture, machines, ceramics, glass, jewellery, textiles, paintings and photography. These are presented beside pieces old and new from which Sottsass adapted forms, colours and patterns into his unique style.
“The exhibition will present Sottsass’ work in dialogue with ancient and contemporaneous objects that influenced his practice,” said the museum. “This juxtaposition will offer new insight into his designs, situating him within a broader design discourse.”
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