MATTIA BONETTI
'New Works 2017'
7 June- 8 July 2017
David Gill Gallery
2-4 King Street
St. James's, London
SW1Y 6QP
UK
MATTIA BONETTI
New Works 2017
7 June- 8 July
David Gill Gallery presents an exhibition of new work by Mattia Bonetti.
7 June – 8 July 2017
“With Mattia we always have the sense that art is imitating nature. Working with Mattia over the years has been a joy and one that is always full of surprises. This new collection is no exception; he has the unique ability to makes something both fabulously whimsical and highly covetable at the same time” - Francis Sultana, CEO David Gill Gallery
David Gill Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Mattia Bonetti held from the 7th June to 8th July at 2-4 King St, St James’s, London. This is Mattia’s 5th solo exhibition with David Gill and coincides with the gallery's 30th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
Swiss-born and Paris-based, Mattia Bonetti has worked with David Gill for over 30 years and was the first contemporary artist Gill showed when he opened his first gallery in 1987. Since then, Bonetti’s pieces – fantastical furniture ranging from the wildly baroque to the minimal and angular as well as the playful and witty – can be seen in many of the world’s leading museums and galleries.
This highly anticipated new exhibition pays homage to some of Bonetti’s celebrated collections including Congo, Grotto and DW4. Bonetti always starts his creative process with a series of sketches drawn by hand, which are then transformed using exceptionally refined and noble materials, including wood, patinated bronze, acrylic, rock crystal, marble and gemstones.
The new works feature a variety of tables, sofas, chairs, mirrors and lighting – pieces which appear sculptural while also functional, and which have been produced in Bonetti’s distinctive, imaginative and poetic style.
32 new designs includes Chinese Rock, an imposing 8ft long standout piece made from beautiful green stone, mounted upon two giant feet sculpted by hand, then cast in bronze. This lavish work plays with light and appears as if it is translucent.
Familiar soft ceramic shapes can be seen in works such as Coffee Table DW4 in which simple geometric circles and spheres create an elegant and futuristic coffee table. The structure of the table is fibreglass, finished with a gold glaze and glass top.
The Grotto collection, which is well known to many collectors, has been enlarged: “I wanted to make the family bigger and so, quite organically the bedside tables were born”, Mattia states. The name of the family comes from naturally occurring grottos where the acidity of water dissolves rock carbonates leaving a mutated form. Bonetti mimics this style in the legs of the table cast in bronze.
Another key piece of the exhibition is Jungle Lamp, eclectically influenced by Africa. Both luxurious and elaborate, the giant gold leaves reach for the sky, measuring 115cms. As is often the case in Mattia’s work, the light plays with the shadows and the reflections of the materials he has so carefully selected. The lamp is carved in oak wood, handpainted ivoire and bronze patinated.
The sumptuously rich, blue velvet clad sofa Cylinder is both refined and monumental, highlighting how Bonetti can turn the utilitarian daily object into a luxurious piece of beauty with his craftsmanship. In Cassata we see the whimsical, surreal and fragile side of Bonetti in the stacked up ceramic console; “My work is never literal, it is an interpretation”. For these tables each part is moulded out of clay and then glazed and baked before being stacked in different multi-coloured formations.
BIOGRAPHY
Mattia Bonetti began his career in the 1970s. Swiss-born and Paris–based, Bonetti is renowned for his ability to fuse art and design with imagination and intelligence, using a wide variety of materials, techniques and craftsmanship. There’s a strongly playful element to his work, often beguiling but always practical. The Wall Street Journal described his work as “a dazzling combination of materials and daring shapes, underpinned by superb craftsmanship.”
MATTIA BONETTI ‘NEW WORKS 2017’
David Gill Gallery
7 June – 8 July 2017
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