Fantastic Wood

Republic of Fritz Hansen™ launches a Grand Prix limited edition with a project by Diego Grandi in collaboration with the tattoo artist Pietro Sedda.

To celebrate the re-launch of the Grand Prix chair in its original version with wooden legs, designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1957, Fritz Hansen Store Milan is introducing an exhibition under the art direction of the Italian designer Diego Grandi, in collaboration with the tattoo artist Pietro Sedda.

Diego Grandi decided to celebrate the authenticity of the chair by writing a story directly onto its “skin”. The lines of this iconic chair evoke the grace of a human body and for this reason the idea is to look at it like a body enhancing its peculiarities with an intimate, indelible, enduring sign. Grandi decided to ask Pietro Sedda to work with ink on nine chairs (seven wood and two leather), looking at the shape as a human figure, a body to be decorated.

The inervention of the two artists, which underlines and characterises the identity of each chair with reference to places, memories and surreal and fantastic dreams. All these elements are part of Sedda’s fantasy, linked to the past and nostalgia, and they depict a present which has been and will never be again, like in novels where a sad feeling permeates the whole story.

These unique pieces will be displayed from 11 September to 13 November at Republic of Fritz Hansen Store Milan. The installation by Diego Grandi’s studio DGO, will offer graphic patterns and mirroring surfaces giving new points of view on the Grand Prix. The chairs will be on sale for charity by silent auction during the course of the exhibition, so collectors will be able to bid for their favourite chair. The winners will be announced at the closing party on 13 November. The proceeds will go to the Dynamo Camp Association, chosen as the beneficiary for its work with children as well as for its proven attention to art.