Gaetano Pesce Exhibition on View thru 4/25 at Allouche Gallery

"Gaetano Pesce: One-of-a-Kind Iconic Works, 1967-2015," an exhibition featuring maquettes, furniture, vases and drawings by the visionary architect, designer and artist will be on view at Allouche Gallery from March 26 - April 25 2015. There will be an opening reception in the gallery on March 26 from 6-8:30 pm.

Since the 1960s, Gaetano Pesce has been challenging the dogma of traditional aesthetics by creating a multidisciplinary practice that embraces an art, architecture and design of expressiveness that is a commentary on reality, color, figurative representation and political commitment. His poetic imagination and his continued use of humor and irony to attack the standardization of the mass-produced object and architecture set him apart from all other designers and architects.

Hallmarks of Pesce's work are practicality, diversity and his use of contemporary materials such as foam, resin and urethane. "Art and design should be a service to the people," he says. "An object should express more than beauty, nice form and function - it should be subversive and express a political point of view." An example of practical design with a message is his UP Chair. The chair resembles a prehistoric, female fertility figure with a ball attached to it by a chain. The political point made by the design, according to Pesce, is that women are prisoners of men's prejudices and that in certain countries rights of women and people in general are systematically denied. In addition, Pesce feels very strongly that democracy should protect differences and that design should celebrate the diversity of places, cultures, languages and identities.

Many of the sixty pieces in the exhibition will be seen for the first time in New York. Exhibition highlights include: The Bastone Lamp, Senza Fine Unica, the Kid Lamp, crayon and correction fluid drawing of the Up 5&6 Chair, and the xxL Fabric Vase.

For more information about Allouche Gallery visit, www.allouchegallery.com. For more information about Gaetano Pesce visit, www.gaetanopesce.com.

Pictured: UP 5&6 Chair, 1968. Fiberglass and epoxy putty. 8.7 x 5.5 x 7.4 in.