The MA*GA museum in Gallarate is hosting two separate but complementary exhibitions that will make design the star of the museum for the next five months. An excursus from the 1950s to the new generations of designers.
Founded in 1966, MA*GA is one of the most important contemporary art museums in Italy, located in Gallarate, one of the 5 finalist cities for the prestigious title of Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2026.
This autumn, the museum inaugurated two exhibitions that put design in the spotlight, making it the absolute star of the coming months. These are two distinct exhibition itineraries, but linked by the setting-up curated by the trio Parasite 2.0, which has transformed the entire museum into a building site: scaffolding and floating floors support the works and subdivide the spaces, giving the MA*GA an ever-changing appearance, as if it could be revolutionized again at any time.
This choice perfectly reflects the stylistic signature of the trio, whose work focuses on the representation of contemporaneity, seen as an ever-changing reality, just like a building site always under construction.
From 13 October 2024 to 2 March 2025, the MA*GA is therefore hosting ART AND DESIGN. DESIGN IS ART and HYPERDESIGN. XXVII edition of the Gallarate Prize. Together, these two exhibitions recount the evolution of Italian design, from the 1950s to the new generations of designers destined to interpret the future.
Archizoom-Superonda-Centro-Studi-Poltronova-05S-1920x1400
Art and design. Design is art
Born from a visionary idea of Philippe Daverio fifteen years ago, the exhibition celebrates the excellence of Italian design from 1950 to the 2000s. Curated by Emma Zanella, Vittoria Broggini and Alessandro Castiglioni, the exhibition places art and design in dialogue, further blurring a boundary that is becoming increasingly thin. In Art and Design. Design is art, design is explored as a complex and, as defined by Daverio himself, ‘ambiguous’ phenomenon. Indeed, it responds to cultural, economic and sociological instances, intertwining with authorial and aesthetic issues in a unique and unrepeatable interaction.
Divided into five sections, the exhibition devotes each space to a different decade marked by an ironic title akin to Philippe Daverio's spirit.
The first section, entitled Si riparte, is dedicated to the design icons born in the years just after the end of the Second World War, products with pointed, angular and hard shapes to which, in the 1950s, are answered by objects with freer shapes, a balance between rigor and organicity.
A sinistra: Antonia-Campi-Portaombrelli-C33-Societa-Ceramica-Italiana-Laveno-1951-Collezione-MAGA-1281x1920
A destra: Atanasio-Soldati-Ambiguita-1951-Collezione-MA_GA-1281x1920
Quando i salotti erano bianchi, on the other hand, is the section that analyses the period of the economic boom that saw the home transformed into a space in which to represent itself. Essential and sinuous forms find assonance with the abstract and spatialist elegance of contemporary art. At the same time, industrial production entered the scene through the introduction of new materials that gave rise to easily accessible objects, and works of art responded accordingly.
The third section, Dalle libertà personali alle libertà politiche, examines the rise of Radical Design, a trend that saw the rejection of traditional processes and methods. In the 1960s, therefore, a new way of looking at and interpreting objects was introduced; similarly, feminist collectives began to bring new political demands into contemporary art practice along with conceptual art.
Then we come to Gli anni di piombo; economic and energy crisis, political difficulties and tensions influence creative processes, leading designers to reflect and develop a more essential language.The democratic design method accessible to all is born. In this context, revolutionary ideas also spread in creative practice, in which utopia becomes the central feature.
A sinistra: Andrea-Branzi-sedia-Revers-1993-Collezione-Cassina-Courtesy-Cassina-1278x1920
A destra: Pratone®-Forever-di-Giorgio-Ceretti-Pietro-Derossi-Riccardo-Rosso-2021-©-Gufram-Courtesy-of-Gufram-1920x1920
Milano da bere is the title of the section dedicated to the 1980s, characterised by a new explosion of consumption, the affirmation of a hedonistic and lighter society, the return of colour and the international success of Made in Italy. Design is the spokesman of the changes but always with an eye on the past with the aim of reshaping it. Another preponderant element between the 1980s and 1990s was irony, as much a protagonist in design as in art.
Arte e design. Design è arte closes with the 1990s to leave space to HYPERDESIGN, the exhibition project curated by Chiara Alessi for the XXVII edition of the Gallarate Award. One last reflection, however, links the two exhibitions, Under Attack, an interactive work by Ennio Bertrand, in which the public can intervene and develop their own reflections on the theme of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on 11 September 2001.
Alberto-Piovesan-RD-D-Air-Lab-WorkAir-indossato-Credit-D-Air-Lab-1920x1280
HYPERDESIGN, XXVII edition of the Gallarate Prize
Curated by Chiara Alessi and developed around contemporary topics - sustainability and the environment, safety and work, inclusion and relationships - the exhibition focuses on the projects and processes of post-1990s design, giving space and voice to promising new generations of designers.
The exhibition explores contemporary design after the 2000s, interpreting it as an ‘evolving site’ rather than analysing it from a historical and static point of view. The projects selected by Chiara Alessi narrate, therefore, the return to self-production and the renewed link between design and craftsmanship, as well as the introduction of new technologies that, combined with self-production, has led to the creation of custom-made items designed to meet specific needs.
Acta-Architects-Maidan-Tent-ph.-Marco-Cappelletti-DSL-Studio-1920x1920
Alongside this narrative, that of companies offering more freedom to young designers unfolds, and that of designers focused on exploring new materials for more sustainable design. HYPERDESIGN, then, gives space to projects that expand beyond living, moving into the social sphere and becoming a collaborative and open process. The exhibition concludes, therefore, with projects that attempt to respond to the most pressing and topical issues, such as the climate crisis, gender issues and disability.
The two exhibitions hosted at MA*GA will also be accompanied by a programme of workshops, talks and conferences.
Tag: News Design Mostre
© Fuorisalone.it — All rights reserved. — Published on 14 October 2024
Iscriviti alla nostra newsletter
