Barnaba Fornasetti - The Seascape Theme 2017

Window Projects is pleased to present Barnaba Fornasetti at the Rustaveli Avenue 37 location. The earliest seascape themes originate from Piero Fornasetti’s need to create and experiment at the end of the 1940s. Silk is the first material to be used with seascape motifs on scarves, the iconic item of clothing epitomizing his encounter with Gio Ponti and the start of their creative partnership. Meduse (Jellyfish), Piccoli pesci (Small fish), Marinara (Marine), Il buon pescatore (The Good Fisherman) and Conchiglie sul lastricato (Seashells on Stones) are only a few of the names of printed designs found on this accessory.

By constantly trying out new ideas as well as materials and techniques, he applied seascape designs to a number of increasingly various items during the 1940s and 1950s. The Duomo sommerso (Submerged Duomo) privacy screen date back to the 1950s as do the trays and the plates which, as though in an innovative apartment version of an illustrated atlas of marine biology, house Madrepore (Madrepores), Alghe marine (Seaweeds), Sardine (Sardines), Conchiglie (Seashells) e Fiori Marini (Sea Flowers). Barnaba Fornasetti, born in Milan in 1950, the only child of Piero Fornasetti- Milanese painter, sculptor, interior decorator, engraver of books and a creator of more than 13,000 products. In terms of variety of decoration, Fornasetti’s production of objects and furniture is one of the largest of the 20th century. Fornasetti is celebrated as being amongst the most original creative talents of the Twentieth Century. During his career he created a visual vocabulary that is instantly recognisable and unceasingly engaging. Fornasetti designed a magical world, saturated in image and colour and filled with whimsy and wit. Barnaba at the tender age of just 3 years old started his career with his father, by giving him a daisy on a hydrangea leaf that immediately became the decoration theme for a Fornasetti tray.

After studying at the Accademia delle Belle Arti, he worked with the designer Ken Scott and the publisher Mondadori. In 1974 he moved to Tuscany, where he renovated farmhouses until 1982, when he returned to Milan to work full-time alongside his father. In 1988, after Piero’s death, Barnaba took over the family business that he still guides today, maintaining its tradition of craftsmanship and setting up new partnerships and licenses for ceramic tiles, fabrics, ties, home fragrances, rugs, parquet and wallpapers. The most recent example is the capsule collection with Comme des Garçons, the Japanese fashion label founded by designer and artist Rei Kawakubo. Through re-editions, Barnaba has faithfully built on his paternal legacy. With the same pioneering spirit and the same passion, he has rekindled his father’s extraordinary visual language, creating what he likes to term “reinventions”, in other words new objects designed from scratch by himself, mainly using themes taken from the immense historical archive. Under his artistic direction, Fornasetti is now considered one of the principal Italian companies in the sphere of high craftsmanship.

In 2009, he edited the monograph “Fornasetti: l’artista alchimista e la bottega fantastica”, the first major anthology and narration of the story so far, published by Electa. In 2010, it was translated and published in English by Rizzoli New York with the title “Fornasetti The complete Universe”, with a revised, expanded edition in 2016. An attentive observer of the world, Barnaba has for a long time nurtured the dream of transcending the boundaries of design and applying decoration to other disciplines. The many positive reactions received over the years have allowed him to fulfill his aspirations and implement his philosophy. And so, between 2013 and 2016, he launched three important initiatives: “Fornasetti, practical madness”, a retrospective that toured Milan, Paris and Seoul, the book “Tema e Variazioni. The first series 1-100,” an entirely handmade limited edition book containing the first 100 illustrations from the eponymous series, and Mozart’s “Il Dissoluto Punito ossia Il Don Giovanni,” on opera that debuted in Milan and Florence. Thanks to Barnaba’s always unconventional approach and methodological rigour, the art and history of Fornasetti can be seen in the most important museums and theatres.