The Artisans

Artist, sculptor, and designer Gianmaria Potenza first started his own workshop in the 1950s while still a student at the Art Institute. Based in the heart of Venice, his pieces skillfully meticulously preserved the century-old techniques and know-how of the Venetian tradition reinterpreted in a contemporary key. He began exhibiting his oeuvres in the 60s and achieved international recognition in the 80s following a showcase of his iconic Ninfea Armonica sculpture, which traveled the world, from the streets of Istanbul to New York, to Hong Kong and St. Petersburg.

Born in Italy in 1955, Isabella Vismara studied art in Milan before moving to the United States for her artistic debut in a group exhibition at the Boston Fine Arts Museum in 1979. Her subsequent group exhibition - Gli AmiciPittori - was in 2002 at the Superstudio in Milan, achieving critical acclaim. Her signature painting technique, cold encaustic on wood, allows for a more textural effect than oil paint. Her Human Kind Visiting God (2014) in Robilant+Voena (London) and Anima Mundi (2016) at Sotheby's (Milan) are just a few of her successful solo exhibitions.

The duality of humans & nature and the artificial & natural are themes artist Leonardo Niola explores in his art. Born in Rome in 1991, he always loved drawing as a child, a passion that sowed the seeds for his artistic high school studies. The study of perspective, shadows, color, and visual perception nourished his self-taught path, achieving a style influenced by surrealism, expressionism, and graphic art. Decontextualization and desaturation are techniques he embraces in his paintings to convey a sense of immortality and intangibility.

Raised between Rome and Florence in the 1970s and ‘80s, Lorenzo Castore is an Italian photographer who fell in love with the craft after taking photos in the streets of New York City when he moved there in 1992. A trained lawyer, in 1999 he decided to leave his career to become a war photographer in Albania and Kosovo. Later on, his work shifted from in-the-field to slower, long-form photographic narratives, mainly drawing on his personal experience, memory, and the relation between individual stories. His photographs have been exhibited and published internationally.

Carlotta Oddone decided to forgo her flourishing career as a reporter to become an interior decorator. She spent five years in Rio de Janeiro immersed in local culture, paving the way for interior design consultancies and collaborations with prestigious firms in the Italian textile industry. Today, her own textile design brand mainly focuses on colorful prints on velvet, and her spaces are decorated to reflect the personality of those who inhabit them.

A world traveler and photographer, Dariusz Jasak is based in Florence, where he finds inspiration in the ever-flourishing artistic and architectural environment. Featured in Vogue, AD Italia, and Wallpaper, he collaborates with leading book publishers around the world. Capturing the fascinating essence of urban landscapes, streets, and their inhabitants, his works have been showcased in solo exhibitions in Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Stuttgart.

An unconventional embodiment of a dynamic and fast-paced reality, DalMoto is a design brand based near the majestic Lake Como inspired by Futurist Italian architect Antonio Sant’Elia. Creating contemporary pieces following traditional crafting techniques combined with new technologies, each design is distinguished by meticulously handmade details that enhance their durability and comfort.

Creating timeless pieces that go beyond classic and contemporary paradigms, Pietrachiara is a Milan-based design studio that draws inspiration from artisan traditions, expressed in innovative colors, lines, and textures using refined and up-to-date materials. Particularly attentive to the sustainability of their pieces, Pietrachiara’s designs will accompany present and future generations and contribute to the creation of homey and singular decors.

Just like every person is unique, each pot by Pot à Porter is carefully handcrafted by master artisans and distills a signature contemporary spirit. The brand's expertise is consolidated in five generations in the terracotta industry in a close-knit team of designers and passionate craftsmen. High-quality clays and colors mixed by hand in the in-house laboratory seal that uniqueness defining each pot as an authentic objet d’art.

A contemporary take on the timeless tradition, Atelier Taftique is the Florence-based studio of Dutch artist Jules Vissers where she designs and creates hand-tufted and embroidered tapestries using personally selected high-quality Italian yarns. Taking part in art and design events such as the Milan Design Week, Dubai Design Week, and Florence Biennale, her oeuvres are like paintings: “To me, my yarns are like my painting colors. With this manual technique, I can make specific scenes and patterns come to life”.

Past fashion and Venetian tradition are in Manù Brunello’s DNA. Born in Venice, where she is still based in an atelier near Palazzo Grassi, she started making jewels with Murano glass beads and sea stones before turning to painting in 2008. Her attendance at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice sparked the idea of painting what she previously used to craft. Her detailed portraits - echoing realist and hyperrealist influences - reveal an eternal bond with fashion ever-present in her art.

Dante Negro has been developing sophisticated and bespoke indoor and outdoor designs since 1964, forging metal into chairs, tables, loungers, and sofas. Based in northern Italy and now run by Dante’s son Elia, and guided by the creative direction of Margherita Rui, it explores the soul of metal in its potential forms, creating new scenarios of elegant style, developed around skillful, intergenerational craftsmanship enhanced with unique finishes. The brand is now in its second generation, run by Dante’s son, Elia.

Evoking a unique, immersive ambiance with her distinctive paintings merging real-life figures and fantastic characters, fluid shades, and clean geometries, contemporary artist Anna Caruso grew up in a culturally rich yet fragmented Milan during the 1980s. A graduate of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bergamo in 2004, she now collaborates with Italian and International art galleries, including the Gilda Contemporary Art in Milan, the Anna Marra Contemporanea in Rome, and Thomas Masters Gallery in Chicago.

Cagliari-based photographer and teacher, Francesca Randi has been honing her craft since 1999. Throughout the years, she has developed an oneiric, surreal style where photos capture and replicate the most intimate side of the self, just like dreams. Identity, childhood, adolescence, unconsciousness, stress, wunderkammer, and nocturnal landscapes between nightmare and loneliness are the predominant themes explored in her works. Randi's photographs have been exhibited in a variety of solo and collective galleries in Italy and abroad.

Secondome is a Design Gallery focused on contemporary designers and innovative projects worldwide. Founded by Claudia Pignatale in 2006, Secondome produces its own collection of furniture and objects working to launch experimental designers, artisans and master craftsmen. Its mission lies in highlighting both the high quality manufacture of the Made in Italy brand and the originality of products, emphasizing the tradition of Italian craftsmanship whilst breaking the mold of lifeless objets d’art.

A leading Italian design brand, Semastone Design has been working with marble for over thirty years. Transforming precious raw marble stones into refined, sculptural pieces for both private and contract interiors, its designs are singular and bespoke, a testament to the high-quality craftsmanship shared by Semastone Design’s expert artisans.

Diana Priscila Solis is an artist and designer residing and working in Florence, Italy. In 2018 she graduated from the Florence Academy of Art after having studied Art History at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Her training in both traditional drawing and painting, coupled with extensive knowledge of digital design, has allowed her to produce a versatile portfolio of multidisciplinary work. Her work has been showcased in various exhibitions and galleries, such as the 2018 and 2019 ARC Salons in MEAM Barcelona, the Drawing on The Masters Auction at Columbus Circle Time Warner Center, and a solo exhibition titled "Grottesche" with AFF Group.

Photographer Giuseppe Palmisano embarked on the “iosonopipo” project in 2012, seeking to explore the true essence of women, moving past the erotic symbols to arrive at the highest expression of nature. In 2019, Palmisano put “iosonopipo” on sale on eBay; Francesco R. acquired it before Mario Mondaini Studio took control of the archives three years later. Giuseppe Palmisano eventually decided to go back to his project as the new Art Director, seeking to investigate the cathartic nature of shots where encounters between people are frozen in time.

Distinguishing himself within the chaotic post-war world of the 1950s, Elio Martinelli founded Martinelli Luce, a light fixture brand that merges rigorous and essential geometries with nature. The brand’s philosophy is rooted in the concept of essentialism, nothing superfluous, creating ergonomic designs marked by a minimalist aesthetic.

Born in Savona in 1948, set designer and sculptor, Sandro Lorenzini chose the art of ceramics as his own means of expression, seeking from the beginning the large dimension and the direct relationship between the works and the spaces that host them. The large site-specific installations have constituted his most peculiar expressive dimension. The quality of the creations and the very high level of technical research have made him famous all over the world. He has exhibited in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, United States, amongst others.