Casati Gallery at the Salon Art + Design exhibition at the Park Avenue Armory

We look forward to participating along other design and art galleries at the Salon Art + Design show this coming November 14 – 18.

For this exhibition we will bring Italian designers and artist that participated in the historical 1994 Guggenheim Museum exhibition “The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943–1968,” alongside works from some the contemporary designers in our program.

We hope you can come to visit the show, and explore, learn, and shop among design and art gallerists and enthusiasts.

Salon Art + Design 2019 at the Park Avenue Armory NYC

A few months ago, as I was preparing for Casati Gallery’s participation at Salon Art + Design New York 2019, it was a delight and a great source of inspiration that I was able to acquire the architectural drawing that the Italian architect Gae Aulenti made for the design of the 1994 Guggenheim Museum exhibition “The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943–1968.”

“The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943–1968” was organized by art historian, critic, and curator Germano Celant with the idea of exploring the explosive postwar era of Italian visual culture. Given the vast artistic territory of the exhibition, Celant curated the Art Section and assigned the curatorial oversight of the rest of the visual arts to others. Among the experts participating were Andrea Branzi, who curated Product Design; Pandora Tabatabai Asbaghi, who curated Arts and Crafts; and Italo Zannier, who curated Photography.

Pencil on paper, sketch of the atrium of The Guggenheim Museum during the seminal exhibition, The Italian Metamorphosis, 1943-1968. Made by Gae Aulenti. Closeup view of the signature in the lower right corner.

Of course, it would be impossible to even come close to replicating what Celant, Branzi, Aulenti, and others achieved during that 1994 historic exhibition “Italian Metamorphosis, 1943–1968.” What we’ve prepared for the 2019 Salon Art + Design 2019 is inspired by that exhibition, but we are also bringing works of additional Italian modernist masters and works of younger talented designers in our program.

Franco Albini green loveseat designed for Casa C. Milan

Among the works that we will present are important pieces by Franco Albini, Studio BBPR, Andrea Branzi, Luigi Caccia Dominioni, Fausto Melotti, Carol Rama gallery, Aldo Rossi, Italian architect and light designer Gino Sarfatti, and Carlo Scarpa; as well as works by younger talented designers Phillipe Nigro and Jonathan Nesci.

Front view with lateral shade of Franco Albini bookshelf and wall-mounted cabinet a ceramic Melotti vase, a Ferro murano vase, and a BBPR floor lamp at Italian design and furniture Casati Gallery

We will also present the wonderful source of inspiration for this exhibit: Gae Aulenti’s architectural drawing. This was a complex exhibition to design, as Gae Aulenti needed to consult and coordinate with numerous curators and artists and to meet the requirements imposed by the museum’s unique building. The result was a design based on three triangular structures projecting from the circular hallways into the central void of the museum, providing a continuously evolving and overlapping perspective of the triangular structures as the visitors to the exhibition walked up the ramp.

I want to extend our sincere gratitude to the talented architect and Co-curator of the Insituto Bardi Sol Camacho for designing Casati Gallery’s booth for this coming exhibit.

I look forward to seeing you at Salon Art + Design.

Ugo Alfano Casati