April 11, 2019

Text: Annie Block

“Ettore Sottsass and the Social Factory” Retrospective to Open at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami

His Ommagio No. 5, in Corian and wood, from 2007, the year of his death. Photography by Lucas Knipscher/courtesy of Friedman Benda.

The lines between design and art have been progressively blurring since the late 20th century. Even in southern Florida: Art Basel Miami Beach and Design Miami/ have been coinciding since 2005. The Institute of Contemporary Art Miami is further solidifying the symbiotic relationship with the launch of a biannual exhibition dedicated to exploring postwar and contemporary design.

> See more from the March 2019 issue of Interior Design

“Considering the increasingly significant role design plays in everyday life, we thought it important to better understand its relationship to contemporary art,” curator of programs Gean Moreno explains. What better way to kick off the initiative than with the seminal figure of Italian and global design? “Ettore Sottsass and the Social Factory,” which runs April 18 – October 6, 2019 and showcases 40 of the late architect’s objects, furniture, and ceramics as well as several of his drawings. In step with how Sottsass established dialogues with different cultures, Moreno adds, Mexican architect Frida Escobedo has been selected to design the exhibition.

Ettore Sottsass’s ceramic Monumento di Merda Alle Patrie, 1966, is at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami April 18 through October 6. Photography by Silvia Ros/courtesy of Kim And Al Eiber.

Totem no. 18, 1966, in glazed earthenware and painted oak. Photography courtesy of Friedman Benda and Ettore Sottsass.

The wood and plastic laminate Cabinet Superbox from 1968. Photography courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Abet Laminati, 1983-40-2.

> See more from the March 2019 issue of Interior Design

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