From April 6 to June 29, 2024, Piacenza is hosting an exhibition on Michele De Lucchi, exploring the extensive art, design, and architecture production of the renowned architect
Volumnia, the exhibition space dedicated to art and design inside the former church of St. Augustine in the heart of Piacenza, presents Michele De Lucchi. Con le mani e con la mente | Quarant’anni di sperimentazione tra arte, design e architettura (Michele De Lucchi. With hands and mind | Forty years of experimentation in art, design and architecture) from April 6 to June 29, 2024. Curated by Paola Nicolin, the exhibition explores the celebrated architect’s wide-ranging production including architectural models, experimental design objects, sculptures and artworks.
The world of Michele De Lucchi
For over forty years, Michele De Lucchi has been active in the fields of architecture, interior and product design, graphics and installations. The main source of inspiration for this multifaceted artist is found in working manually and in direct contact with matter. Starting from this relationship, in fact, the architect freely creates new forms transcending practical and functional constraints. According to De Lucchi, working with one’s hands allows thought to connect directly with the physical dimension of the real world. And it is from hand-mind relation that his ideas become signifying objects.
Works on display
Michele De Lucchi. With hands and mind | Forty years of experimentation in art, design and architecture presents a selection of prototypes and historical pieces that have become rare over time due to their limited production. Furniture, complements and lamps made by artisans, the result of work at the intersection of art and design tell the identity of Produzione Privata, the design workshop founded in 1990 by Michele De Lucchi and Sibylle Kicherer to give continuity to the Memphis experience and devise experimental objects, unconstrained by the logic of the market.
The itinerary continues with the display of objects and Artworks, the research started by De Lucchi in 2003, which today includes more than five hundred sculptures, most of which are made of wood, the author’s favorite material. These unique works are tangible evidence of the process that inextricably links the search for new forms and architectural concepts with professional projects. Three models of small stone architectures made in 2007 are also exceptionally exhibited for the occasion. Pencil sketches, tempera drawings and engravings complete the exhibition, offering an overview of the variety of techniques used by the artist to express concepts, formulate hypotheses and find solutions.
