Edizioni Cetonia Chest of Drawers by Alessandro Mendini

About the Item

Signed original. Lacquered wood frame with hand painted polychrome decoration. Handles in natural anodized aluminum. Drawer interiors in grey lacquered wood. Designed by Alessandro Mendini in 1984. Featured in the Indianapolis Museum of Art collection. Only a prolific and generous, educated and sensitive and conceptually very daring author such as Alessandro Mendini could devote so many of his thoughts to a class of furniture that is usually left out, by designers as well as by critics: the chest of drawers. This object has deep and historically well-established roots, between aristocracy and bourgeoisie, but in more recent times it still manages to bring back memories for all of us, as it was usually to be found among family furniture that we used to see in our grandparents’ houses. Since he redesigned it in 1978, when he transformed a 1940s piece of furniture thanks to a painting inspired by Kandinsky, Mendini has rethought this very functional object on several occasions, such as with Calamobio, a multicolor surprise of pixels/wooden inlays, and with Cetonia, a dynamic Neo-Futurist varnishing on a curvy and spacious container: they both rely on unique craftsmen’s knowledge, which is the main feature of the Zanotta Edizioni adventure, a catalogue where art integrated with design without mixing up. Alessandro Mendini was born in Milan in 1931. He was a partner in the Nizzoli Associati practice until 1970. He was a founding member of the Free School for individual creativity “Global Tools”. From 1970 to 1976 he directed Casabella; from 1977 to 1981 he directed Modo and Domus from 1979 to 1985. Starting from 2010 he was again the director of Domus. He was a partner in the Alchimia studio and an image and design consultant for a host of manufacturers. Besides his architecture and furniture design, he organized a multitude of exhibits, seminars and free lectures in Italy and abroad. He was the author of several books on design and was on the advisory panel of the Domus Academy. His critiques and essays appear in the chief international trade journals. He is the principal author of the Zabro collection. Alessandro Mendini has been working for Zanotta since 1982 until his death in 2019.

Creator:
Zanotta (Manufacturer),Alessandro Mendini (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 34.63 in (87.97 cm)Width: 47.25 in (120.02 cm)Depth: 21.25 in (53.98 cm)
Style:
Modern (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Aluminum,Wood,Anodized,Lacquered
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1980-1989
Date of Manufacture:
1984
Condition:
Seller Location:
Brooklyn, NY
Reference Number:
Seller: 78601stDibs: LU4260217483022
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