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Designer
Gaetano Pesce
Gaetano Pesce was born in La Spezia on 8 November 1939 and grew up in Padua and Florence. He studied architecture at the University of Venice under teachers such as Carlo Scarpa and Ernesto Rogers, and from 1958 to 1963 took part in Gruppo…
Biography
Background
Gaetano Pesce was born in La Spezia on 8 November 1939 and grew up in Padua and Florence. He studied architecture at the University of Venice under teachers such as Carlo Scarpa and Ernesto Rogers, and from 1958 to 1963 took part in Gruppo N, a collective devoted to programmed art. In his youth he wrote a manifesto defending the right to inconsistency in art. He died in New York on 3 April 2024.
Signature Style
Pesce erased the boundaries between art, design and industry. He worked with resin, foam and urethane, moulds and casting, and pioneered "diversified series" production, in which each industrially made piece is deliberately different — "imperfect and warm".
Notable Works
- Serie UP (1969) for C&B Italia / B&B Italia, including the UP5_6 armchair
- Organic Building, Osaka; Chiat/Day offices, New York
- Nobody's Perfect (2002) and tables for Cassina (2010)
Legacy
His work is held by MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum, the Centre Pompidou, the V&A and the Vitra Design Museum. The Serie UP received the Compasso d'Oro ADI Product Career Award in 2022.
Collections
Products
Feltri Armchair
Gaetano Pesce's 1987 armchair in thick wool felt, resin-hardened below, with a quilted seat.
Up Junior
A 2014 child-sized armchair for ages 3 and up, a smaller version of UP5_6
Dalila Chair
Gaetano Pesce's Dalila chair, revived for outdoors in flexible polyurethane foam and elastomer.
Tramonto a New York Screen
Gaetano Pesce's New York skyline as a triptych screen in coloured cast polyurethane resin.
Serie Up Compasso d'Oro
Gaetano Pesce's 1969 Up5_6 armchair in a limited edition for its 2022 Compasso d'Oro career award.
Paravento Risacca
Gaetano Pesce's wave screen: three polyurethane resin panels on brass bases, limited to nine pieces.
UP 5_6 Armchair and Ottoman
Gaetano Pesce's UP5_6 armchair with a spherical ottoman tied on by a cord
Notturno a New York Sofa
Pesce's three-seat sofa of nine skyscraper-modules with a full-moon backrest, in a series of 50.
Serie Up 2000
Gaetano Pesce's Up series of 1969 as the Serie Up 2000 sofa, with a Jersey fabric cover.
Tramonto a New York Sofa
Pesce's 1980 sofa of padded skyscrapers and a red satin sun, re-edited in 50 pieces.
Up 50
Gaetano Pesce's Up5_6 chair and ottoman in a striped fabric for the Up series' 50th anniversary.
