As the design world gathers in Basel for Design Miami Basel 2024 this week, the fair pays homage to the late Gaetano Pesce, who passed away this past April. The display was created by Design Miami returning gallery Friedman Benda as well as debut galleries Pulp Galerie and downtown+. Within the fair meanwhile, a few galleries including Pulp Galerie, Galerie Gastou and Capsule Lounge, in collaboration with do you read me?! & Kodoji Press have also honoured the designer within the fair, offering visitors an immersive experience into the creative world of Pesce.
Gaetano Pesce at Design Miami Basel 2024
'Gaetano Pesce was the most independent-minded designer of recent times,' says Glenn Adamson introducing the tribute. 'He was also among the most influential – a role model to countless others. Perhaps these two things go together, for contradiction was at the heart of Pesce’s creative vision.'
The display greeting visitors to the fair include zoomorphic seating for Meritalia, the Feltri Armchair for Cassina and resin objects created by Pesce in his New York studio. Also included are his oversized Moloch Floor Lamp from the 1970s and the Up 1 Armchair for B&B Italia. The diverse offering on show gives a glimpse into Pesce's varied and expressive approach to furniture.
'Completely dedicated to personal expression, he also loved working with manufacturers, finding ways to push them to embrace experimental processes. A true avant gardiste, Pesce’s work has a profundity which rewards deep exploration. Yet it also spoke loud in clear, in ways that even a child - perhaps especially a child - can read,' continues Adamson.
'Most of all, Pesce believed in making what he called “objects of our time.” That meant working in plastic and other modern materials. It meant constant innovation. Yet in retrospect, we can see that his great subject was the human condition itself, which never truly changes.'
Adamson continues to describe the designer's oeuvre as 'tragic and joyful, ecstatic and conceptual, anarchic and precise. His impact on the future of design is just beginning.'
Elsewhere at the fair, Galerie Pulp present an exhibition dedicated to early Pesce works, mostly acquired from the private collection of Dutch photographers Petra and Erik Esmerg, who often captured his pieces through his photographic work.
Meanwhile, Galerie Gastou's display dedicated to the materiality of plastic includes Pesce's work alongside other design greats working in the material, including Shiro Kuramata.
Finally, Capsule with do you read me?! and Kodoji Press have collaborated on a satellite space at the fair's entrance in the form of a special reading space dedicated to Pesce's genius, featuring some his most celebrated pieces among which is the modular La Michetta sofa for Meritalia.
Design Miami Basel 2024 is on view until 16 June
