The Artisans

Mauro Martinuzzi is the founder of his namesake design brand established in 2010 and based in Amsterdam. Born in 1986 in Maniago (Friuli Venezia Giulia), he moved to Milan to study at the European Design Institute. Following his studies, he collaborated with glassmaker Emmanuel Babled from 2007-2013 and worked with Studio Marcel Wanders from 2013-2020. Martinuzzi and his partner Giulia Zia founded the Desainisti cultural movement and opened studio ZAZI in Treviso. He has exhibited his works at the Galleria Blanchaert, Salone del mobile, Dutch Design Week, and Venice Glass Week.

Painter Alessandro Florio, who was born in Taormina, Sicily, first got in touch with the artistic environment through the world of tattoos, which he is very passionate about. The connection between painting and tattooing lies in his necessity for expression, the most intimate one, that allows him to describe how he feels. The switch from his activity as a tattoo artist to a painter came while he was visiting the Louvre in Paris, and by seeing the works of the Old Masters, he felt the necessity of working on bigger subjects and not just small ones like those that are typical in tattoos. In his works, there are elements that recall both his Sicilian roots, and are also influenced by Oriental art and the respect for nature.

Gülden Demir is an accomplished glassmaker and artist renowned for her iconic sculptures and interior design pieces. Beginning her career in glassmaking studying at Vetroricerca Glas&Modern in Bolzano, she specialized in kiln forming and glass fusing techniques. Demir believes in the importance of technique and storytelling, hence each piece is meticulously crafted and finished to reveal captivating works of art that awaken the senses and create cozy living spaces.

Marco Gaviraghi Calloni is an artist with a passion for the artisanal tradition of industrial design. His objects are meticulously hand made in raw iron and corten steel and the various colors and irregularity of their surface change in time in a constant transformation process. These are everyday objects seen through the eyes of an artist and rigorously built around the fundamentals of geometry.

Painter and visual artist Samantha Torrisi lives and works on the foothills of Sicily’s Etna volcano. After graduating from Catania’s Academy of Fine Arts, she directed her research into multi-media art, resulting in a series of original paintings inspired by cinema, video clips, and personal footage. Environmental issues and transformative human nature are recurring themes in her pieces. She has showcased her art at the Riso - Contemporary Art Museum of Sicily, The Project Gallery Athens, and the Italian Cultural Institute of Paris, to name a few.

A century-old, family-run business specializing in artisan knife making, Coltelleria Silvano Collini merges exceptional functionality with timeless aesthetics. Each piece is meticulously handcrafted with minute attention to detail, from the materials and forging to the sharpening of the blade and final texture. Their knives will imbue refinement into any dining table and make for an exceptional addition to a kitchenware set.

An internationally acclaimed Italian design studio that follows circular sustainable processes, Krill Design was founded in 2018 by Ivan Calimani, Martina Lamperti, and Yack di Maio. Innovation, sustainability, and design are essential to the brand’s philosophy, which aims at experimenting with new materials and 3D printing technology.

The brainchild of interior designer Pierfranco Giolito and artist Simone Mussat Sartor, Magda is a brand offering simple, pleasant, and durable objects reflecting the duo’s outstanding personalities. A trip to Liguria in 2018 was a turning point for them to merge their professional experiences and establish their brand. They seek to arouse curiosity and forge deep connections with their surroundings with every Magda piece.

A small artisanal workshop located in the center of Sicily, Artema Galli is a testament to the island’s rich traditions. Passion and innovation merge in the artisans’ interpretation of cultural heritage, crafting unique pieces entirely by hand, most notably the signature, contemporary-style Moor’s heads. Artisans follow traditional crafting methods to bring to life timeless yet somehow magical creations.

A mission reflected in its name - a play on the word “riverbero” meaning reflection - Reverbero is specialized in crafting bold light fixtures that captivate modern sensibilities. Their striking designs are meticulously studied and designed to offer a luminous backdrop tailored to the space as well as client routines and emotions. Every step of the crafting process is carried out in Italy, a country whose prized artisan tradition serves as an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

Pipedesign is an Italian interior design brand deriving its name from iron rods, one of their most used raw materials which they deftly transform into original geometric pieces. The expertise of local master artisans combines with novel technologies such as 3D printing to reveal essential, light, and versatile furniture designs and lighting fixtures. Pieces can be entirely tailor-made to suit any decor, taste, or need. Wood, iron, glass, and marble are also featured in their exceptional designs, never ceasing to captivate in their timeless elegance.

Teresa Lobelia D’arienzo is an Italian artist known for her contemporary vases made using century-old techniques. She works with large and light forms placed on smaller or narrow bases, creating tension between the idea of stability and fragility. The juxtaposition of lightness, rawness, and precariousness inspires a series marked by imperfection and dynamic movement. Her creative process is intuitive, responding to an overall feeling for a form or a surface, and the objects that come to life are containers dressed in texture.

After completing his Architectural studies, Pino Procopio felt the need to communicate emotions through figurative art, following the steps of the Primitivism current. Procopio paints everyday life happenings, making them surreal, with fantastic and deformed figures, as if reflected by convex mirrors. He paints mythologies that describe the tale of the Greek gods, their weaknesses, loves, conflicts, passions, deceptions and betrayals. Animals are a constant in his works to denounce their suffering at this particular moment in history. Procopio also realizes sculptures with salvaged materials and with polychrome bronze castings through the intaglio technique.

Piero Mollica's shots evoke early twentieth-century photography when the newly invented technique was preparing to abandon naturalism to access the languages of the most advanced modernist painting. Piero Mollica's technique is based on Fine Art and the focus is on the basic relationship between the subject and the construction of habitable space. Mollica's research consists in transforming the image, starting from the conscious renunciation of its immediate description.

Born in Castellammare di Stabia in 1970, Federico Lombardo currently lives and works in Ciampino, Roma. Completing studies in Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, his research focuses on exploring the shape and spirit of man through bold brushstrokes and daring colors. His works have been exhibited at the Monade in Federico Rui A. Contemporanea Gallery, Milan (2018), Ai confini della pittura in BQB Gallery, Rome (2016), Experimenta, Collezione Farnesina at the Ministero degli Affari Esteri (2009), and Point of departure at Dean Project New York (2007), among others.

Photographer Carlo D’Orta has been capturing bits and pieces of the world with his camera for over forty years. Between 2002-2012 he studied contemporary art and painting at the Rome University of Fine Arts and received a Master’s degree in Photography at the IED Institute in Milan. His photos are characterized by a bold pictorial influence and focus on architecture, landscape, dance, and portraits. He has presented solo exhibits around the world, notably “Beyond the Lens” in Venice in 2015 and the National Museum of Singapore in 2017.

“Painting makes me feel at home.” Angelo Bellobono is a Roman-born artist who has traveled around the world capturing the relationship between humankind and nature. Merging disciplines such as anthropology and geology with the concepts of identity, boundaries, and territory, he experiments with his sense of “corporal” belonging, skillfully moving from one mountain landscape to another. Ice is a recurring element in his works, symbolizing the Earth’s memory that acts as a bridge between cultures and countries.

Milan-based painter Milena Sgambato graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. In 2011, she was selected to participate in the 54° Venice Biennale with the Italian pavilion, representing the Campania region. From that moment on, her works have been exhibited in many museums and contemporary art galleries, such as the Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Caserta, and the Costantini Art Gallery of Milan.

Born and raised in Milan, Valentina Sommariva is a multi-hyphenate photographer. After receiving her Architecture Degree and studying Design at Brunel University in London, she attended the Contemporary Image master's course at Fondazione Fotografia Modena (2012-2014). She is also a member of the Italian Chartered Institute of Journalists, specializing in portraits, catalogs, interior design, and ad campaigns. She has exhibited her works worldwide and has been published by The Guardian, AD Italia, Financial Times, Elle Decor Italia, Holland, and Russia.

Giuseppe Lo Schiavo is an award-winning visual artist currently living and working between London and Milan. AI, machine learning, infrared systems, and virtual reality are all featured in his works, which are often focused on creation-destruction, past-future, and analog-digital. Winner of the European project BioArt Challenge, his current research on art and synthetic biology is supported by MUSE, Cardiff, and Zurich Universities. Museums and galleries worldwide hosted his works, also published on BBC, Vice, Inside Art, and Elle Decor, among others.