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Ettore Sottsass & Shiro Kuramata Exhibition

Opening Reception: 16th July, 7 – 9 pm, with talk by the curator at 7 pm

Exhibition: from 17th July to 14th August (the gallery is open from Mon to Sat, 12 – 7 pm)

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Novalis Contemporary Art Design Gallery is pleased to present Ettore Sottsass & Shiro Kuramata exhibition, curated by Seiki Mori/United Voice, and supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of Hong Kong and the Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong. 2021 marks both the 30th anniversary of Shiro Kuramata’s death and the 40th anniversary of the Memphis Group. The exhibition looks at the extraordinary friendship between the Italian design master Ettore Sottsass (1917 – 2007) and the Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata (1934 – 1991) during their time within the Memphis Group.

The encounter between the two was magical. When Kuramata received a letter from Sottsass asking him to join the Memphis Group, he was so elated he said, “I got a love letter from Sottsass!” Their interaction began in 1981 with Memphis Group, a project that had tremendous impact on the design world. At that time doubts were being cast on modern design with its pursuit of function and rationality. Sottsass called on designers all over the world and launched the Memphis Group as a solution. The two shared the same love for design, kindred souls in their belief that there is more to design than mere functional objects.

Despite the difference in expressive styles, their work conveys the same stance towards pushing design as a ‘culture’ that goes beyond the category of mere ‘civilisation’. To Ettore Sottsass, “if there is a reason for the existence of design, it is that it manages to give – or give anew – instruments and things this sacred charge for which […] men enter the sphere of ritual, meaning life.” Design should not merely be functional objects, but remind people of the joy of living through engaging in sensuality. Shiro Kuramata stated that the “function of design should not be just about whether it is practical or not. Enchantment should also be considered as function.” This enchantment can be found in Kuramata’s experimental materials, in the light captured within ‘star piece’ terrazzo used in ‘Nara’ (1983), where Kuramata substituted traditional marble chips used in terrazzo with coloured glass.

The meaning of ‘design’ and ‘creation’ may change drastically as today’s excessive market economics and materialistic society comes under fire. Shiro Kuramata and Ettore Sottsass are trying to get us to ask, “What is an unconstrained free spirit?” and “What is design in the true sense?”

 

An online talk between Novalis founder/ Mr. William Figliola, Former Chairman of Japanese Commercial Environmental Design Association (JCD)/ Mr. Iijima Naoki, and Lead Curator of M+ Museum/ Ms. Ikko Yokoyama will also be hosted in early August.

 

About Ettore Sottsass (1917 – 2007)

Ettore Sottsass was an Italian architect and designer. His work included furniture, jewelry, glass, lighting, home and office objects, as well as many buildings and interiors. He grew up in Turin and graduated in Architecture from the Politecnico di Torino in 1939. In 1947, in Milan, he founded his architecture and industrial design studio, where he began to create work using various media. In 1956, Sottsass went to New York and began to work in George Nelson’s design studio. Back in Italy, he established major collaboration projects with Poltronova (1957) and Olivetti (1958). From the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s he collaborated with Superstudio and Archizoom Associati, within the Radical movement, until the foundation of Memphis Group in 1981, of which he was a founding member. In the mid-’80s, with Sottsass Associati, mainly an architecture studio, he also designed elaborate shops and showrooms, company identities, exhibitions, interiors, Japanese consumer electronics, and furniture of all kinds. Ettore Sottsass was presented numerous international awards, winning the ADI Compasso d’Oro in 1959. His work is on show in the permanent collections of many museums around the world such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Centre G. Pompidou in Paris, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

About Shiro Kuramata (1934 – 1991)

Shiro Kuramata graduated in Architecture from Tokyo Polytechnic in 1953 and then found a job at the furniture company Teikokukizai. Until 1956 Kuramata studied interior design at the Kuwasawa Design Institute in Tokyo. In 1965 he founded his own studio. As an interior designer, he designed furniture and more than 300 bars and restaurants. During the 1970s and ’80s, attracted by the many possibilities offered by new technologies and industrial materials, Kuramata turned to acrylic, glass, aluminum, and steel mesh to create transparent and light objects. Endowed with a playful spirit and a lover of brilliant colors, he joined Ettore Sottsass in the wake of the foundation of the Memphis Group in 1981. Kuramata’s approach to furniture and interior design revolutionized post-war Japanese design. Kuramata re-evaluated the relationship between form and function, imposing his own surreal and minimalist vision on everyday objects. His works can be found in the permanent collections of the Centre G. Pompidou in Paris, the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Vitra Design Museum in Basel, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto.

 

  • Organized by: Novalis Contemporary Art Design Gallery
  • In collaboration with: Italian Cultural Institute / Consulate General of Japan in Hong Kong