GROUP EXHIBITION with RADE PETRASEVIC / CHARLAP HYMAN & HERRERO / ROBERTO MATTA / YALI
The SALOTTO (‘Sitting Room’) is an invitation from ALMA ZEVI to look, explore, and take a seat in the gallery. Reverberating with Rade Petrasevic’s bright oil paintings, the visitor’s journey through the space is moulded around the supine forms of Roberto Matta’s iconic Malitte suite of lounge seating, an original example from 1966. These curved forms resonate into the wavy outlines of Yali’s glass tables, made in the Veneto in 2019. Meanwhile, our eyes are caught by the ribbed surfaces of Charlap Hyman & Herrero’s (CHH) oversized ‘shell lamps’, presented in Italy for the first time.
SALOTTO , one enters a world of distinctive silhouettes and graphic lines that are both fluid and free. These lines extend from the furniture and into Petrasevic’s paintings through his depictions of curling smoke, sensual plants and rippled bodies. The idea of nature infuses the show: the tables are titled ISOLA (‘Island’), referring to the myriad of islands in the Venetian lagoon; whilst CHH’s shells invoke a phenomenon of nature, and foliage is depicted in almost all of Petrasevic’s paintings.
In SALOTTO, quintessential 1960s interior design collides with contemporary young artists and designers. There are clear connections between past, present and future in the exhibition. While Petrasevic and CHH are looking forward within their individual practices, their respective visions incorporate moments from the past. Petrasevic cites painters such as Leon Golub and Philip Guston, while CHH’s lamps connect to the 18th Century fashion for Grottos. In addition, Yali presents a timeless aesthetic that bridges between Modernist furniture and emerging art and design. By rethinking the ancient craft of Venetian glass and organic forms to produce unique pieces, Yali challenges the divisions between sculpture, furniture, art and object.
