By Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia Up7 Il Piede Postmodern Lounge Chair, Black, 1969
Gaetano Pesce (Italy, born 1939), UP7 (II Piede), C&B Italia in 1969, available for (custom) order by B&B Italia from 1975 till 2005. No longer in production.
A foot shaped chair titled UP7 (II Piede) by Gaetano Pesce, dated 1969. Featured is a black polyurethane foam chair with mottled texture structured in the form of a large-scale lifelike right foot.
As is typical of this iconic design over time, there are slight imperfections and such that develop on the black foam surface. This is part of the charm of this piece, as Pesce is commenting on and satirizing the worship of classicism and the classical ideal, as represented by the adoration of the often crumbling, incomplete and larger-than-life-sized perfect human body and its various parts in Greek and Roman traditions and the numerous classical revivals throughout the last 600 years. It’s interesting to keep in mind that the great masters of modern design self-identified as adhering to the classical ideal, restraint, perfect geometry, symmetry, functionality of form as well as a Humanistic outlook. Pesce, a young designer in 1969, was commenting on and deconstructing this directly with his UP7 to great acclaim.
Custom, removable toenail pedicure accessory seen in the first photo is not included in this listing, but is available for order separately, in a variety of color choices.
Born in La Spezia, Italy, in 1939, Gaetano Pesce studied architecture at the University of Venice and was a part of Gruppo N...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Post-Modern Chaise Longues