“Enzo Mari. The Art of Design”

October 29,.2008 - January 6, 2009

GAM Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Arts of Torino

The Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Arts of Torino has dedicated, until January 6th, an anthological exhibition to Enzo Mari, a charismatic and original - and often inconvenient - designer who has helped make the history of Italian products. At the exhibition's presentation, in front of an audience that included academics, he began by stating that his great fortune lay in not having gone to school. He learned at the school of life and early on it was a hard life because of his family's economic difficulties, which forced him to abandon his studies in favour of odd jobs. Later, when he began to concentrate on painting and design, his reference points were the maestros of Italian art, from Giotto to De Chirico, as well as designers of the calibre of the Castiglioni brothers, whom he studied "not to imitate them but to get a sense of the eternal laws of forms." Willing to risk unpopularity, he affirmed that design died thirty years ago and that contemporary designers have sacrificed design to the logic of the marketplace. All in all, he was never accommodating, not even when he designed objects on commission (which in the exhibition are marked with a moon), which he created after fierce negotiations with the clients. But these commissions permitted him to dedicate himself to the works (which are marked with a sun) which sprang from his deep, personal need to study forms. The search for the essential form, for the archetypal idea of simplicity, is the objective that he followed with perseverance and determination throughout his long career in art and design. Mari has thrown himself whole-heartedly into the preparation of this exhibition, overseeing the setup and the catalogue in detail. The objects, which were selected by a group of friends following criteria that were more sentimental than scientific, reconstruct over fifty years of a career that was studded with great fulfilment and many recognitions (he received the Golden Compass award four times). The objects, ideas, thoughts, photographs, installations and paintings illustrate a fascinating story in which life, art and profession blend perfectly. For this reason, the pieces are organised in chronological order and the works of his artistic production are not separated from those of design. Rather than proposing a historical-critical framework in the didactic notes, the reasons are given for the stylistic choices that were the basis of his creative process.