nice to see you: inside the last exhibition of late designer gaetano pesce in milan

nice to see you by gaetano pesce

Thirty works, mainly unreleased, by the late architect, designer, and artist Gaetano Pesce have landed in the Sala Accademie and in the atrium of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana during Milan Design Week 2024. The exhibition, dubbed Nice to See You, was part of 5VIE‘s program (Unlimited Design Orchestra) and highlights Pesce’s latest creations produced between 2023 and 2024, right before his passing. Each and every one was personally selected by the designer not only for their functional role, intrinsic to the word ‘design’, but also as bearers of messages — objects with a double meaning: the useful one and the one that makes you think. 

displaying works with a functional role and as message bearers

From the Friendship Lamp to the La Grande Chair and Leaf Shelf, the works on display at Nice to See You invite the audience to reflect on the role of design at a much deeper level.’The design of the various art directors that have no reason to exist and lead Italian industries to repeat themselves without creativity. This is not the design I am interested in,’ the late Gaetano Pesce said. ‘What we want to convey is rich in meaning, not only does form follow function, but it has a third, very important element, namely meaning, which can make people think on a political, socio-economic, religious, philosophical, behavioural and personal level.’

The monographic exhibition Nice to See You as part of 5VIE was open to the public during Milan Design Week between April 15 and April 23, 2024. Moreover, in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan, the late Gaetano Pesce presented ‘L’Uomo Stanco’,  a monumental outdoor installation at Piazza Pio XI that speaks about the ethic tiredness of the so called Stronger Sex.

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project info:

name: Nice to See You by Gaetano Pesce | @gaetano.pesce

location: Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Piazza Pio XI, Milan

program: 5VIE Design Week: Unlimited Design Orchestra | @5vie_milano

viewing dates: 15 to 21 April 2024