FOSSIL PANEL I

Designer/Manufacturer

Gianluca Pacchioni

Circa

2017

Edition

Unique Work | Signed by the Artist

Description

Gianluca Pacchioni, a Milan-based artist, acclaimed for his rigorously sculpted metal objects, began forging metal as a self-taught apprentice in a studio shared with other artists at Quai de la Gare in Paris. After his first exhibition, the Cologni Foundation awarded Pacchioni a Master in Fine Arts & Crafts, an honor that recognizes the most skilled artisans in Italy. Pacchioni’s team fuses his methods with traditional techniques to manipulate metal in new ways. His work has matured into a virtuous fusion of brass, bronze, iron, stones layered with different patinas, and poured liquid metals.

These monumental bronze panels are hand-crafted using painstaking techniques that translate the most minute details. A part of the Tropical Fossil series, each panel features unique bas-relief elements formed from leaves and plants grown in the courtyard of Pacchioni's studio. ‘You have the sensation that the plants are floating in a bath of gold mud, while the other side is blank and smooth, focused on the classification of patinas,’ Pacchioni says. ‘There are two souls in every panel.’

Materials

Wood Structure Covered with Liquid Bronze and Hand-Rubbed Brass Patina. Solid Brass Frame.

Dimensions

H 98.5 × W 59 × D 3.5 in
H 250 x W 150 x D 9 cm

Lead Time

Available

Price

Upon Request

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Gianluca Pacchioni

Born in Milan in 1966, Gianluca Pacchioni discovered his life passion for art and metalsmithing when he moved to Paris in the nineties. There, he experimented and learned the techniques of sculpting, forging, and casting metals in a shared artists' studio at the Quai de la Gare. His experiments resulted in his first collection of iron sculptures and furniture, exhibited at the Vivendi Gallery, Place des Vosges.

The artist then returned to his native Milan, opening his own studio in an eyedrops factory from the 1930s, working in tandem with Italian master-craftsmen from whom he has grown his own expertise. Pacchioni has continued to explore new materials ever since. Today his work has matured into a virtuous fusion of brass, bronze, iron, stones layered with different patinas, and poured liquid metals.

In 2014, the Italian Embassy in Paris recognized the artist's embodiment of Italy's heritage of master-craftsmanship and art with the permanent installation of his work in the Embassy's entrance hall. In 2016, Pacchioni was awarded the title of Master of Arts and Crafts by the Fondazione Cologni. Pacchioni says of his own work: "I abuse the metals, but then I end up caressing them... my aim is to find a form which blends imperfection with finesse."