Chiave/Serratura, Fornasetti, 2022
©Foto Massimo Listri
Cortile, Fornasetti, anni 2010
©Foto Massimo Listri
Barnaba Fornasetti (Milan 1950)
Barnaba Fornasetti is the artistic director of the Italian design and decorative arts atelier Fornasetti, founded by his father, Piero. Barnaba Fornasetti faithfully preserves and develops his father’s heritage, continually renewing the extraordinary visual language of the firm. With a nonconformist, pioneering spirit that is true to his nature, he guides the historic brand, now known all over the world for its creations that straddle art and design.
“The Fornasetti objects featured in the exhibition are decorated with two of the most representative themes of the atelier’s artistic language. The architectural theme is recurring and is expressed here with the Cortili (Courtyards) pattern, applied on a table; it was originally conceived for a series of plates first made in 1954. The Serratura (Lock) vase is one of the iconic creations of our production. It all started with the discovery of a prototype designed by my father: a plaster mold, vaguely defined but fascinating. I transformed this idea into this ceramic object with anthropomorphic traits. The portrayed face belongs to Fornasetti’s muse, Lina Cavalieri: a true archetype, the quintessential image of classical beauty, like a Greek statue, unfathomable like the Mona Lisa, it offers itself to hundreds of variations, giving rise to the series Tema e Variazioni (Themes and Variations).” (Barnaba Fornasetti)