Gaetano Pesce and Rosanna Ceravolo are two Italians who featured in the event. Whilst different in terms of their artistic approaches, their works are distinguishable through an undeniable stile italiano. This style has, in turn, been interpreted through the respective artist’s worldly experience and the context of the message transmitted through each of their creative works.
Interestingly, both Pesce and Ceravolo have a background in architecture. Pesce was born in La Spezia, while Ceravolo is from Calabria. Pesce moved around Italy and then to a host of foreign cities including Hong Kong and now New York where he is still prolific in his art at 83 years of age. The younger Ceravolo migrated with her parents to Australia and has had a few adventures of her own.
Each of them, however, are not just known for their architecture, but also for their work as designers and artists. Something that Ceravolo explains is not unusual, “Italian architects often branch out into design and other creative arts.”
Pesce has forged an international reputation from over 50 years of creating art. His stunning urban design projects such as the Parc de la Villette (1985) in Paris, and the architecturally vivacious Casa do Artista in Bahia, Brazil are testament to his genius.
Gaetano Pesce in his studio. (Photo: Paul Barbera)
Through his studies in architecture at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, he came to forge a patterned style in that of Bauhaus. He went on to work as an academic, designer and artist in many countries (click here to read more).
Several of Pesce’s pieces were on display at the Melbourne Design Week. Each evidence his creativity with his material of choice, polyurethane resin. Also, viewers delighted in the paintings and sketches included in the exhibition. These pieces provided a kaleidoscope of colour, form, function, and imagination. Each, a visual interpretation of a complex question or notion faced by humanity.
Viewers were fascinated by the pieces such as the beguiling and deeply perceptive recent work, Nobody’s Perfect Chair (2023). Also, the Senzafine Basket 11 (2022) with its seemingly playful, candy-like, contorted twisting composition. Both provide a sense of the artist’s mastery with polyurethane resin and colour. Whilst the Sketch for a bed (2008), which brilliantly captures the essence of romantic love, is a pencil and crayon drawing on paper. This work is simply exquisite in its fluency in communicating a range of human emotions present in a romantic interaction.
Geoff Newton, of Neon Parc points out that Pesce’s works represent the artist’s tussle with many questions relating to the world around him. “I think Gaetano’s work has a broad appeal, yet he isn’t interested in making easy objects,” he said. “His is a personal, social and worldly outlook which is optimistic and coy, but also bold and straight up.”
Nobody's perfect (Pesce, 2023)
Ceravolo’s furniture pieces, objects as well as interior and architectural design are all defined by form, texture and materiality. She describes her work as reflecting a minimalistic style. She draws on the material to convey a presence as well as deliver a message.
Ceravolo established her own studio in Melbourne’s central business district in 2011. She had already worked for several years in an architectural firm in Australia. Prior to that, she worked for two years in an architectural company in Rome, “I learnt a lot from working in Rome. It was hard work. Everything was geared towards tendering for work and the competition came from across Europe.”
Starting her own studio was Ceravolo’s childhood aspiration, “From the age of ten, I always wanted to become an architect. I remember I was, and am, fascinated with spaces. Even as a child, I loved walking into spaces and seeing how they were used, and imagining how they could be used.”
Ceravolo found that travelling helped nurture her thinking about space, design and purpose. She explains that her satisfaction lies in working with clients to create a space or a piece that reflects “something about them personally. I ask a lot of questions about how they live, how they intend to use the space. I ask about their everyday rituals so I can ensure that the client’s way of being is reflected in the design.”
If you missed Melbourne Design Week, Ceravolo has a powerful piece in the National Gallery of Victoria as part of the Melbourne Now exhibition. It is a beguiling and rather disturbing piece called Entropy. Made from raw cast aluminium, the piece is made up of a series of seemingly independent components which then combine as interconnecting parts. The components seem to float around each other in a chaotic way, but also combine as one impressive structure.
Only an artist’s mastery can create a visual representation of often complex emotions, and Entropy is one such piece. Ceravolo explains that the piece was developed as a result of a dark period of loss when all seemed to be in chaos around her. It was also designed during COVID, and this period added another layer of what seemed to be chaotic against the usual world order. Against what is at first noticeable as chaos, at a deeper level of understanding the strong core of Entropy’s imposing structure is revealed. This is done by the piece’s connected pieces, each beautiful in terms of shape and dimensions.
Ceravolo has exhibited in Australia and internationally, for instance, at the Salone del Mobile in Milan in 2019. In fact, her designs have often been featured in such magazines as the Australian Design Review, Australian House and Garden, Habitus Living, Elle Décor Italia and Vogue Living.
Pesce and Ceravolo provided a feast for the eyes and imagination. They certainly brought Italian style, creative flair and provocation to Melbourne Design Fair. Let’s hope there is more to come.
