Designed for beauty

From Branzi to Sottsass, from Mendini to Pomodoro: 13 designers bring at Galleria Fragile a selection of jewelry united by the fil rouge of design of service to and creator of beauty.

In the 1950s, thanks to the enthusiastic research activities carried out by leading figures from the world of painting, sculpture and, subsequently, design, a radical change in the fields of jewelry, goldsmithing and body decoration took place.

The traditional main value of the preciousness of raw materials was dismissed in favor of plastic value, shape and jewelry crafting abilities.

Alessandro Mendini, 2015, enamel and silver

As happened in all the other fields of Italian production of the period, jewelry too began to draw fully from the world of sculpture, painting and design, keeping, nevertheless, its traditional sensitivity to jewelry social dimension, conceived – above all – to provide pleasure to those who wear it. Through the selection of pieces made by Fragile, the gallery chose an exhibition itinerary that will highlight each author’s own personal style, from the artists’ unique or partially serial abstract gesture to the designers’ architectonical and decorative references, balancing them through the “fil rouge” of design, being of service to – but, at the same time, creator of – beauty.

Alberto Zorzi, silver and rutile quartz ring, 2015
<b>Left</b>: Alba Polenghi Lisca, Corallo Ciondolo Calliope 2, 2005. Silver, black coral. <b>Right</b>: Andrea Branzi, Collezione Magic, Arnolfo di Cambio 2001, silver
<b>Left</b>: Anna Gili, Pendente Mandala, Manifattura Nicolas Cola, white and yellow gold with diamonds, 2001. <b>Right</b>: Arnaldo Pomodoro, silver, 1967
Ettore Sottsass, Collezione Magic, Arnolfo di Cambio, 2001, silver
Enzo Mari, Collezione Magic, Arnolfo di Cambio, 2001, silver
Giorgio Vigna, Collezione I Segmenti, Cleto Munari, 1988, gold
Karl Heinz Reister, silver, gold and reconstructed coral brooch, 2006
Riccardo Dalisi, Brass and copper pendant, 2015


October 15 – December 15, 2015
opening Wednesday October 14, 6.30 pm
Designned for beauty
Jewels by Andrea Branzi; Riccardo Dalisi; Anna Gili; Enzo Mari; Alessandro Mendini; Giancarlo Montebello; Alba Polenghi Lisca; Arnaldo Pomodoro; Karl Heinz Reister; Ettore Sottsass; Giorgio Vigna; Alberto Zorzi
curated by Paola Berra
Fragile
via San Damiano 2, Milano