Paul Kasmin Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by the Swiss-born, Paris-based artist Mattia Bonetti. Held at the gallery's 293 Tenth Avenue space, the exhibition will be his largest to-date in the United States and his first with Paul Kasmin.
Since the beginning of his pioneering career in the early 1970s, Bonetti has approached the distinction between contemporary art and design not as a barrier but as a wellspring of creative dialogue. As Carol Vogel writes, "Bonetti's work captures a particularly imaginative moment at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st Centuries when historical forms are freshly translated and familiar materials are pushed to new limits. Every design, whether it be a sofa or a simple box, combines a sense of whimsy and glamour with a distinctive intelligence and originality."
This exhibition showcases the balance of exuberance and rigor that has become the definitive signature of Bonetti's transformative hand. In it, a gracefully draped pearl necklace becomes a table, a broken vase is reborn as a lamp, and a house of cards is reconfigured into a gleaming chest of drawers. Bonetti juxtaposes traditional bronze, gold leaf, wrought iron, and blown glass techniques with resin, acrylic, and mirrored stainless steel technologies to form expertly crafted objects that are a pleasure to use and behold.
Mattia Bonetti was born in Lugano, Switzerland in 1952. A comprehensive monograph of his work will be published on the occasion of the exhibition by Skira/Rizzoli, featuring photography and text by Reed Krakoff with essays by Adrian Dannatt, Jacques Grange, Marie-Laure Jousset and Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis. His work is included in numerous public collections, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
For more information, please contact Nick Olney at [email protected]
For image requests, please contact Mark Markin at [email protected]