In an unprecedented commission by Creative Director Matthieu Blazy last September, the architect, artist, and designer Gaetano Pesce was given creative carte blanche to produce a temporary site-specific artwork as the show space for Bottega Veneta's Summer 23 fashion show in Milan. The space included a sculptural resin floor and 400 resin chairs, created in a spectrum of vivid colors.
Now, at Design Miami/ (30 November - 04 December) the collaboration continues with an exhibition at this year's flagship fair, where a selection of the Come Stai? chairs will be on display. A live discussion between Pesce and Design Miami/ Curatorial Director Maria Cristina Didero, followed by a book signing, celebrates the project and inaugurates the release of a collectible artist book documenting Come Stai?.
Come Stai? is a new design for Pesce, his first original chair for several years. The construction is a cotton canvas based on traditional toile fabric, dipped in coloured resin and at times featuring hand drawings. Each is distinct and unique.
"This chair is a tribute to diversity. It is about the human being; we are all different.
"People who say we are all the same - f**k them! We are all different and this is our defining quality - otherwise, we are just a copy. We are all originals and this is one of the themes of my design." says Pesce.
