Gaetano Pesce’s Six Tables on Water
Architect, interior, exhibition and furniture designer Gaetano Pesce was in town last night putting the final touches to his spectacular Six Tables on Water exhibition.
The 73-year-old Italian has had an illustrious career in which he has forged a very nuanced and provocative interpretation of design art.
This collection, hosted by David Gill Galleries, shows different visions of water as imagined from a 10,000m height.
As well expressing an incredible sense of depth, colour and movement Pesce’s tables, which he has designed to be both practical and beautiful, tell the story of the mistreatment of water and the environmental fall-out this causes.
Only the Ocean and puddle-scapes have been designed in a way which suggests total purity. The ocean, lagoon, river, lake and pond, all bear scars of contamination.
‘They are elegant, beautiful and useful but provoke people to think water is important,’ says Pesce.
As throughout the rest of his career Pesce will only work using what he calls ‘the contemporary materials of our time.’
In this case we are talking about rigid polyurethane foam, PVC, and epoxy resin. He often works with silicon, resin and foam exploring their elasticity and application.
Asked if there is a definable quality to his lifetime portfolio, in terms of aesthetic or way of thinking, Pesce says, ‘the best way to communicate something is to make people recognise an image.’
For Pesce ‘design is a form of art’ and art, ‘used to be a very practical product,’ he says. ‘Before people could take photographs they would go and see a painter, not for a work of art, but for a representation of themselves.’
His point is this, blurring the boundaries of art and design – and indeed the fascets of design, is a very healthy thing.
‘The Italians never had specialisms. Michalangelo, he worked in sculpture, architecture, poetry…’
Still in Italy today it is easier for designers to move between mediums he says, and that ‘we should teach this to all young people’ learning about design.
Six tables on water is now open at David Gill Galleries, 2-4 King Street, St James’s SW1, until the end of the year.
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