Contemporary Art & Design Presents The Memphis Group
Memphis Group – A private collection
“A piece of Memphis furniture is a linguistically controlled assembly whose final form is not the result of a design story held together by constructive coherence, but a milk shake of possibilities, an accident that represents the variable and unstable logic of the parts that compose it: volumes broken into different kinds of surfaces, fragmented by decoration and diversified by textures, materials and color.”
– Barbara Radice, 1985
In December 1980, a group of young designers gathered in Milan with a common view of the design scene of the time. With the ambition to create a platform for critical reflection, the foundation was laid for a designer collective that wanted to challenge prevailing aesthetics, material choices and production processes during the industrial age that was the 1980s. The established, conventional "good taste" would be questioned at all costs. With an energetic obsession, the group worked out their manifesto to the tune of Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again", from which the group got its name - Memphis. Strictly speaking, it was initially neither a movement nor a full-fledged style, but rather an experiment by a group of young designers.
Memphis was founded under the artistic direction of Milanese architect and designer Ettore Sottsass. Many of those who would become the main members of the group were present at the first meeting, including Michele De Lucchi and Aldo Cibic. More members were added as time went on, such as the American Peter Shire, the Japanese Shiro Kuramata, the French Nathalie Du Pasquier and the British George Sowden among many more. Two more people played crucial roles in the establishment and success of Memphis: the journalist Barbara Radice, who became the group's coordinator and art director, and Ernesto Gismondi, the founder of Artemide, who ensures a much-needed link to producers.
Memphis launched its first collection, consisting of 55 objects, at the Arc '74 gallery on September 18, 1981, in conjunction with that year's Milan furniture fair. The elaborate conceptual exhibition was widely discussed in the design world. In the years that followed, the group worked on furniture, lighting fixtures, fabrics, carpets, items in ceramics, glass and metal. The shapes were consistently geometric, colorful and non-conformist. They embraced what others would call “kitsch” and inspiration came from a wide range of sources, from Art Deco to Futurism and Pop Art.
For this season’s major live auction Contemporary Art & Design, Bukowskis is pleased to announce an extensive private collection of furniture and objects from Memphis, carefully acquired over many years. In total, the collection comprises 22 colorful objects, of which 9 are iconic forms by Ettore Sottsass, presented side by side with objects designed by, among others, Peter Shire, Aldo Cibic, Shiro Kuramata and Michele De Lucchi.
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