Ettore Sottsass Exhibition in New York

The exhibit will highlight glass, marble, and furniture made between 1965 and 1995.

by Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 5/5/2008

Through June 21, rare and limited edition work by designer Ettore Sottsass is on view in the Friedman Benda Gallery in New York. A master in the Modernist movement, Ettore Sottsass died on December 31, 2007, three months after his 90th birthday.

"Archetypes, An Exhibition of Rare and Limited-edition Work by Ettore Sottsass" will showcase glass, marble, and furniture made between 1965 and 1995 -- many items for the first time in the U.S. The exhibit will follow Sottsass's experimentation with archetypal forms, patterns and structures that convey universal ideas and explore the rituals of daily life. The show is the second in a series of exhibitions focusing on the designer's rare pieces.

In 1972, Sottsass described his design process and preparation he made for an exhibit at the Museum of Modern art with the words: "The aim of the project was not to achieve a product, but to state and provoke ideas.  I wasn’t in the least concerned with making furniture, or an elegant, ‘cute,’ sweet, or amusing environment, and still less was I concerned with designing within this psychic and cultural status quo."

Sottsass's icon pieces include the Valentine typewriter, which was manufacturered by Olivetti. His legacy continues with the firm he founded in Milan in 1985, Sottsass Associati.

Above: Ettore Sottsass designed the Neferititi desk in 1968.