Following a collaboration between Matthieu Blazy, creative director at Bottega Veneta, and Gaetano Pesce, noted architect and artist, that saw the latter given carte balance to produce a site-specific artwork to serve as the show space for Bottega Veneta’s SS23 runway this past September, the duo have released a collectable coffee table book.
Titled Come Stai? the coffee table book was accompanied by an exhibition at the annual Design Miami fair in Miami Beach, held from 30th November to 4th December. The exhibition comprised a live discussion between Pesce and Design Miami curatorial director Maria Cristina Didero, and showcases a selection of the Come Stai? chairs designed for Bottega Veneta.
The Come Stai? chairs are a new design for Pesce, marking the Italian artist’s first original chair in several years. Crafted from cotton canvas based on traditional toile fabric, each chair is dipped in coloured resin, with some featuring hand drawings. Each chair is distinct and unique.
“This chair is a tribute to diversity,” says Pesce. “It’s all about the human being; we are all different. People who say be are all the same – fuck them! We are all different and this is our defining quality – otherwise, we are just a copy. We are all originals and this is one of the defining themes of my design.”
If you adored the resin-laden Bottega Veneta set, there’s now the opportunity to bring a touch of it into your own living room. The Bottega Veneta x Gaetano Pesce Come Stai? chairs are now available for purchase via the Bottega Veneta webstore, priced between $10,500 and $17,500AUD.
If the price tag of these colourful resin seats is a touch out of reach, no matter — the Come Stai? collectable coffee table book brings a piece of Pesce into your home. With an insightful interview between Pesce and Swiss art curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, the limited-edition tome explores the ideation, approach, and process of the collaboration, delving into the connections between Pesce and Blazy’s creative practice and values.
Contributions from Blazy and Maria Cristina Didero showcase the project’s origins and its link to Pesce’s wider oeuvre, while photographs by Stephen Shore and Sander Muylaert illustrate the development and production of the resin-dipped chairs. The cover of the book is informed by the design and materials of the chairs. Like their source material, each book cover is unique, dressed with a colourful resin-like splash.
The Bottega Veneta x Gaetano Pesce limited-edition book is available for purchase on Amazon, while the chairs are available via the Bottega Veneta webstore.
Words by AR Staff
