Bottega Veneta and Gaetano Pesce team up for an installation and limited edition bags in Milan
April 15, 2023
Artist Gaetano Pesce and Bottega Veneta unveil a new installation collaboration, 'Vieni a vedere' (Come and see), at the Bottega Veneta Montenapoleone boutique in Milan. The new collaboration was unveiled at Salone del Mobile 2023.
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The space in which we present the bags is ‘a grotto’. It is narrow and is walked through one by one; whether underground or above, you find a way through. You are actually walking through the outline of a figure shooting for a basket. He represents almost a victory – it is unclear whether it goes in. In this case, the victory is the discovery of the language of representation. It is about opening new ways for design.
VIENI A VEDERE
Iconoclast architect-designer-artist Gaetano Pesce has created public and private works globally for seven decades. Recognized in architecture, urban planning, and interior and industrial design, Pesce continues experimenting outside of tradition.
For the Bottega Veneta Summer 2023 show, Pesce was commissioned to create a temporary site-specific work. His new immersive installation is constructed of resin and fabrics creating a unique experience for visitors to travel through. Along with the installation, visitors may purchase a limited edition of handbags realized by Bottega Veneta for the artist according to his designs.
The installation can be visited for a week – 15th-22nd April, where the artist’s edition of hand-crafted handbags can also be purchased.
‘MY DEAR MOUNTAINS’ AND ‘MY DEAR PRAIRIES’ HANDBAGS
This is my first bag design, and it is figurative – two mountains with a sunrise or a sunset behind. I wanted a bag with an optimistic view. There is a capacity to realize anything at Bottega Veneta, and this bag opens up a way to express future design. The design of the future has to be figurative, and it has to communicate – such an object has to tell a story.
The Bottega Veneta artisans' signature Intrecciato weave reflects smooth mountains and grassy prairies. Each bag is individually painted with an airbrush to resemble Pesce’s watercolor. A meticulous crochet technique is used to capture the seven shades of grass of the whorling prairies.
These artists’ editions are individually numbered and documented: ‘My Dear Mountains’ 15 with 1AP and ‘My Dear Prairies’ 3 with 1AP.
EXHIBITION SOUVENIRS AND EPHEMERA
To celebrate the Gaetano Pesce project, each visitor to the installation will receive a gift. A poster drawn by Pesce commemorates the installation, and hand-painted chocolates by Peyrano, the storied Turin-based chocolatier, are given as a souvenir. Both echo Pesce’s personally meaningful, exalted mountains.
Having a figurative design is very important. I want people to express something in what they do, to express the self and their identity. We need to follow function and utility through design and explore the personal and unique rather than the purely practical.
Bottega Veneta Milano Montenapoleone
Via Monte Napoleone, 27/A, 20121 Milano MI, Italy