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She invades the space Even if she strangely fits in it She creates a rumor in your head A weird sound to your senses She is still Colorful She is a question She is a plastic movement in the room Even if she seems dancing around Invisible branches occupy the air where she breathes A surprise A shock A provocative painting She has an extremely irreverent glance She cuts history Even if she is somehow very familiar Don’t touch her Look at her Turn off your own colors Love her As a plastic field in the ancient castle She is Memphis Arch. Beatrice Bonzanigo IB Studio, Milano From the top: Path, Carlton’s footprint Black field Palazzo Franchetti main floor Exhibition design Cover designed by MEMPHIS - Plastic Field With the help of Tomomot Venice, 24 May > 25 November 2018 Assicurazioni Generali Fondazione Berengo / Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti Pietro Carlini Editorial Coordination Palazzo Franchetti D.D.R.C.I. di Vecchia Marino MEMPHIS – Simona Larghi 2847 San Marco Edilcostruzioni Nardo Giocondo Claudio Pavesi 30124 Venice FIEL spa PLASTIC FIELD Imballi e Polistirolo di Spezzamonte Andrea 24.May > 25.Nov Curatorial Texts A project by Italgreen spa Adriano Berengo Fondazione Berengo Comm. Pierluigi Morasco Broker di Assicurazioni Jean Blanchaert Memphis srl Tipografia Print Cat Deyan Sudjic Puntofotolito srl Organized by Valle Romano Di Valle Alessio e C. Snc Additional Texts Fondazione Berengo Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia Claudio Pavesi Berengo Studio Z.a.v di Arzuffi Giacomo & C. snc Jane Rushton Memphis srl Special thanks to all of the artists for the enthusiasm they brought Translations MEMPHIS - Plastic Field curated by to this project. Emily Ligniti Jean Blanchaert and Adriano Berengo Gabriella Suzanne Vanzan 50 – Ai Weiwei: Exhibition Management – Fondazione Berengo and Berengo Organized by Editing Studio 1989 Gilded Cage lineadacqua edizioni President Claudio Pavesi Adriano Berengo Design and Layout General Management Tomomot Jane Rushton General Coordination Printed by Simona Larghi Grafiche Veneziane, Venezia Claudio Pavesi in July 2018 4 – Memphis: Exhibition Management – Memphis Srl Light after Darkness Photo credits President Jean Blanchaert, Adriano Berengo Francesco Allegretto, pp. 18-19, 24-28, 32-35, 51-53 Alberto Bianchi Albrici Aldo Ballo, p. 21 (bottom) Exhibition design by Aldo Ballo, Guido Cegani, Peter Ogilvie, pp. 16, 20 (right), 21 Exhibition design – IB studio Sati Caleca, p. 17 Presidents Roberto Gennari, p. 13 Isabella Invernizzi Charlotte Hosmer, p. 36 Beatrice Bonzanigo Luca Miserocchi, pp. 6, 8-9, 11, 14, 22-23, 42, 43 Collaborators Angelantonio Pariano, pp. 10, 13, 15, 16-17 (center), 20 (left), Simone Dati 21 (left), 30 (top), 30-31 (center), 31 (left), 37-39, 46-48 Elisabetta Moraglia Lucien Schweitzer Galerie et Editions, pp. 29, 30 (left), 31 With the patronage of Karolina Sobel, pp. 7, 49 PR and Media Consultant Studio Azzurro, pp. 4, 5, 20 (center), 40, 41, 44, 45 Attila & Co First published in Italy in 2018 by Thanks to © 2018 lineadacqua edizioni srl Mazhar Abbas San Marco 3716/b Marco Berengo 30124 Venice, Italy Baldovino Caramel www.lineadacqua.com Nicola Causin Gilded Cage is made possible by Leonardo Cimolin © 2018 Berengo Studio 1989 Gabriele Costantini © 2018 Fondazione Berengo Luca Costantini © 2018 lineadacqua edizioni Stefano Donò © 2018 Memphis srl Francesca Gramegna © 2018 the authors for their texts Nikola Grozdanov © Martine Bedin, Andrea Branzi, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Alan Horsley Michael Graves, Shiro Kuramata, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Roberto Lazzari Matteo Thun, Masanori Umeda, Ai Weiwei, Marco Zanini Stefano Lo Duca © Michele De Lucchi by SIAE 2018 Massimiliano Luzzi © Ettore Sottsass by SIAE 2018 Vittorio Marzaro 10 – Forniture/Mobili Roberto Mavaracchio All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. Laura Porcu Glass/Vetri No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or Mauro Rizzo 24 – by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, Andrea Salvagno recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, Antonio Scarpa 36 – Pottery/Ceramiche without permission in writing from the publisher Nolan Souillard Alvise Massimo Schiavon 40 – Silver/Argenti Printed and bound in Italy. First edition Giacomo Semenzato Daniele Stefanutti Selene Stradiotto 42 – Fabric/Stoffe Marino Zaffalon Presidente - Prof. Gherardo Ortalli 44 – Carpets/Tappeti Video Production Cancelliere - Sig.ra Giovanna Palandri Savino Cancellara Amministratore - Dott. Antonio Metrangolo 46 – Lamps/Lampade 8 – Memphis: Plastic Field Deyan Sudjic 7 6 A photo of the Memphis display a collection of “very updated” furniture, di quella che verrà presentata come una vera e pro- Blanchaert/Berengo Group on Tawaraya ring designed not only by him, but also by his young pria impresa commerciale, è fissato per il 18 set- (1981, h. 120 x 280 x 280 cm) friends. The project would be a group one. The tembre 1981. Viene costituita una società anche per by Masanori Umeda taken debut of what would be presented as an actual poter distribuire i prodotti sul mercato internazio- in 1981. From the left: commercial enterprise was set for September nale. I soci sono Ernesto Gismondi, imprenditore e Aldo Cibic, Andrea Branzi, Memphis InTime Memphis 18, 1981. A company was also established to dis- presidente di Artemide, Mario e Brunella Godani, Michele De Lucchi, Marco Memphis: Zanini, Nathalie Du Pasquier, tribute the products on the international mar- galleristi, Renzo Brugola, ebanista, e Fausto Celati, George J. Sowden, Martine ket. The partners were Ernesto Gismondi, en- produttore di lampade. Se Ettore Sottsass è il re- Bedin, Matteo Thun and trepreneur and president of Artemide, Mario gista, Ernesto Gismondi è il produttore. Il film Ettore Sottsass. and Brunella Godani, gallerists, Renzo Brugola, Memphis, senza di lui, non sarebbe esistito. Il gior- cabinetmaker, and Fausto Celati, lamp manufac- no dell’apertura sono presentati cinquantasette turer. If Ettore Sottsass was the director, Ernesto pezzi fra mobili, orologi, lampade, ceramiche, vetri Light after La luce Gismondi was the producer. Without him, the e stoffe. Gli autori, oltre a Sottsass e al Gruppo, sono film Memphis would never have seen the light of Andrea Branzi, Alessandro Mendini e figure stra- day. For the inauguration, fifty-seven pieces were niere di rilievo come Michael Graves, Hans Hollein, presented, including furniture, clocks, lamps, Shirō Kuramata, Peter Shire, il gruppo americano ceramics, glass, and textiles. The creators, in ad- Arquitectonica e Masanori Umeda, autore del cele- dition to Sottsass and the group, were Andrea bre divano Ring sul quale, nel 1981, viene scattata la Darkness / dopo il buio Branzi, Alessandro Mendini, and important for- foto storica del Gruppo Memphis. eigners like Michael Graves, Hans Hollein, Shirō Le 2.500 persone che bloccano il traffico davanti Kuramata, Peter Shire, the American collective alla galleria Arc ‘74, in Corso Europa, si trovano di Arquitectonica, and Masanori Umeda, who de- fronte a qualcosa che non avevano mai visto prima signed the famous Ring sofa upon which, in 1981, quanto a forme, colori e intreccio fra razionalità the historic Memphis group photo was taken. della funzione e gratuità di soluzioni poetiche. Per The 2,500 people who blocked traffic outside citare Ettore Sottsass “struttura e decorazione sono Memphis’s history is, first and foremost, Ettore Fare la storia di Memphis vuol dire nominare the Galleria Arc ‘74, on Corso Europa, came into un’unità”. La poesia è la novità. Tutti pensavano che Sottsass, because the spark of that fantastic fire prima di tutti Ettore Sottsass, perché la scintilla contact with something they had never seen be- il design dovesse essere soltanto razionale e invece began with him. In 1981, sensing the energy in di quel bellissimo fuoco è partita da lui. Nel 1981, fore as regards forms, colors, and the combina- la poesia, da quel momento, entra a pieno titolo the air, as artists often do, he invented Memphis. captando l’atmosfera, come fanno gli artisti, in- tion of functional rationalism and free poetic nel progetto e ha a che fare con l’ignoto. In the words of Barbara Radice, who quickly be- venta Memphis. Come ci racconta Barbara Radice, solutions. In the words of Ettore Sottsass: “struc- La parte creativa è dominante, i “commercia- came the group’s artistic director: “The name da subito direttore artistico del Gruppo, “il nome ture and decoration are one”. Poetry was the li” vengono dopo. Gli amici di Ernesto Gismondi ‘Memphis’ initially appeared in one of Michele Memphis appare scritto per la prima volta su un novelty. Everyone thought that design had to be gli dicono: “ma tu qui vuoi distruggere te stesso? De Lucchi’s notebooks, scribbled at the top of quaderno di appunti di Michele De Lucchi, scri- the first page next to a date, December 11, 1980. bacchiato in alto sulla prima pagina vicino a una The second and third pages were dated December data, 11 dicembre 1980. La seconda e la terza pagina 12 in pizzeria and December 14 in via San Galdino, sono datate 12 dicembre in pizzeria e 14 dicembre in via which was Sottsass’s address.” A group of de- San Galdino, che è poi l’indirizzo di Sottsass”. La sera signers and architects, his collaborators and dell’11 dicembre 1980, nei venti metri quadrati del friends, gathered on the evening of December soggiorno di casa Sottsass, in un’atmosfera allegra, 11, 1980 in Sottsass’s twenty-square-meter living eccitata, fumosa, complice, con musica e vino bian- Peter Shire, Bel Air room at his home, in a festive, excited, smoke- co, è riunito un gruppo di designer e architetti, (wool fabric), 1982, filled, complicit atmosphere, with lots of music suoi collaboratori e amici. Sono Aldo Cibic, Matteo h. 125 x 115 x 110 cm and white wine. Aldo Cibic, Matteo Thun, Marco Thun, Marco Zanini, Martine Bedin e Michele De Zanini, Martine Bedin, and Michele De Lucchi Lucchi.
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    Memphis: Plastic Field Memphis: Plastic Field This exhibition presents over 150 pieces of furniture, lighting, textiles, ceramics, glass and metalware by the Memphis group, whose bold and playful look pushed boundaries and sparked a new era in international design in the 1980s. Founded by Italian architect Ettore Sottsass in 1981, Memphis brought together an international collective of young designers who wanted to overturn traditional principles of design based on functionality. The group’s first collection caused a sensation, breaking the codes of 20th century modernism and challenging ideas of ‘good taste’. Memphis changed the course of design, fashion, architecture, music and film. Their aim was to rip-up the rulebook and free up new possibilities. ‘Can we imagine a new world by drawing another chair, another table, another light, another vase?’ asked founding member Martine Bedin. Following this call to action, the Memphis group invites us to reconsider, reinvent, and rebuild a new visual language for the future. Memphis: Plastic Field at MK Gallery is a reinterpretation of presentations at The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Bordeaux and Fondazione Berengo, Venice. The exhibition is produced with Memphis srl, Milano and designed by IB Studio, Milan (Architects Isabella Invernizzi & Beatrice Bonzanigo). Christoph Radl, “Isole”, HPL Print laminate, Memphis 1982. GSPublisherVersion 0.21.100.100 Michele De Lucchi, “Fantastic”, HPL Print laminate, Memphis 1981. GSPublisherVersion 0.21.100.100 Michele De Lucchi, “Traumatic”, HPL Print laminate, Memphis 1983. GSPublisherVersion 0.21.100.100 GSPublisherVersion 0.21.100.100 FIRST Memphis: The New International Style Memphis was founded on 11th December 1980 at Ettore Sottsass’s Milan apartment ‘in a festive, excited, smoke-filled and comradely atmosphere with lots of music and white wine’.