To pay tribute to the late designer Joe Colombo (1930-1971), Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan will present “Dear Joe Colombo, you taught us the future” curated by his longtime assistant Ignazia Favata from the 24 May to 5 September 2022. Colombo’s fascination with fusing design and technology allowed him to have one foot in the future. In his utopia, pivoting walls with a built-in mini-bar, televisions that retract into the ceilings and underground ‘nuclear cities’ were central to “multi-functional living”.
The show is a celebration of Colombo’s indelible contribution to design and will include some of his most iconic works such as the Tube chair, the Spider table lamp and Boby storage units. Significant insights into Colombo’s personal life, which shaped his career trajectory will be included into the exhibition and will shed light on his career as an artist before inheriting the family business where experimented with product design and different materials, eventually opening his first studio in Milan -the hallmark of his work as an industrial designer.
Colombo’s furniture designs are characterized by bold, round forms that were radically innovative and practical for the time. From the onset of his career in 1962, living systems were of great interest to him and his work. His fascination with furniture systems lead to the creation of his modular furniture series called Additional Living System(1967) which included entire sets of futuristic furniture which could be assembled into different positions. His own apartment from 1970 and the Total Furnishing Unit from 1971 are examples of where Colombo transformed objects in the domestic space into “machines for living”.
His 1960s product collaborations with Kartell, Zanotta, Alessi and other manufacturers elevated him to household name status. Colombo’s designs were ahead of the future and represent some of the most iconic designs of that era, most of which are still being designed today. The 4867 chair was the first industrial chair in the world, made of plastic and moulded into a single piece.
Colombo studied at Milan’s Brera Academy where he practised as an artist for a few years, joining the Nuclear Painting movement in the early 1950s. Advised by one of his friends, he decided to devote his time completely to industrial design. “His vision of a rational world in which design should be based on scientific research was also illustrated by his many contributions in the field of industrial design, including automobiles, watches, ski bindings, glasses, air conditioning units as well as an in-flight service tray for the Italian airline Alitalia”, noted the Design museum. Colombo’s work extended the realm of possibilities in multiple spheres of design, where aesthetics and function merged seamlessly. The simplest objects transformed into works that could be fictional.
